Apple Not Among Top 5 Smartphone Sellers in China for First Time
Apple dropped out of the top 5 smartphone vendors in China in the second quarter, according to a report from Canalys, as competition from domestic brands like Huawei intensified. The report showed that Apple’s market share in China shrank to 14% in the second quarter, down from 15% in the first quarter and 16% in the same period last year.
The iPhone maker, which was the third-largest smartphone vendor in the second quarter of last year, fell to sixth place with about 9.7 million shipments. “It’s the first quarter in history where domestic vendors dominate all five spots,” said Lucas Chung, a research analyst at Canalys.
Apple's shipments have been in decline since the first quarter when they fell 25% year over year to 10 million units.
Chinese vendors’ high-end strategies and deep collaboration with local supply chains are starting to pay off in both hardware and software features. Honor’s latest Magic V3 , which leverages GenAI, has greatly improved the user experience of foldable devices, Zhong added.
Canales said that localizing Apple Intelligence services in China will be an important step in the next 12 months, as Chinese brands aggressively integrate generative AI into their products.
Chinese companies dominate phone sales
From April to June, Vivo regained the top spot with a 19% market share and shipped 13.1 million units, driven by strong in-store and online sales during the "618" e-commerce festival.
Oppo retained the second spot with 11.3 million units, boosted by the launch of the new Reno 12 series, while Huawei's subsidiary Honor came in third with 10.7 million units shipped, which represents a 4% increase year-on-year.
Huawei came in fourth with a 15% market share and shipments of 10.6 million units, having not made the top five for a full year. Huawei has seen a resurgence in China following the launch of its Mate 60 smartphone.
Canalys said Xiaomi took the fifth spot thanks to the buzz generated by its first electric car, the SU7, which was also helped by strong sales of the K70 series and the flagship Xiaomi 14 series. It said the Chinese smartphone market overall grew 10% year-on-year in the second quarter, with shipments exceeding 70 million units.