Apple iPhone sales
APPL.O in China fell 0.3% while its rival Huawei
HWT.UL recorded a 42% surge in the third quarter of 2024, as competition intensifies in the world’s largest smartphone market.
Apple reached second place with a market share of 15.6%, although down 0.5 percentage points year-on-year, while Huawei achieved third place with 15.3%, gaining 4. 2 percentage points, data from researcher IDC showed Friday.
Vivo, which mainly sells cheap phones, is the top vendor with a market share of 18.6%. The mixed performance follows Huawei’s return to the high-end segment last year with its Mate 60 series, equipped with what analysts say is a locally produced chip. The Chinese tech giant also challenged Apple’s position with its latest Pura 70 model, released earlier this year.
Apple has faced other headwinds in China, including restrictions on iPhone use by some government agencies.
The American tech giant responded by launching several discount campaigns to boost sales. The third quarter performance was partly helped by the new iPhone 16, which went on sale on September 20. On the same day, Huawei launched a competing product – a triple foldable phone. The new iPhones are off to a strong start in China, with sales up 20% in the first three weeks after launch compared to 2023 models, according to separate data from research institute Counterpoint.
“With the launch of its annual new product, Apple returned to the top 5 in the Chinese market with a market share of 15.6%,” IDC said.
“With the subsequent increase in market promotions and the launch of Apple Vision Pro, the market demand for the iPhone 16 series is expected to gradually materialize in the future
Overall, smartphone sales in China for the third quarter increased 3.2% to 68.78 million units.
