Apple 'knocked out' of top 5 smartphone brands in China

Apple's market share in China continues to decline and has been 'knocked out' of the top 5 smartphone brands in this market.

Apple has held the number one position in the Chinese smartphone market for many years. However, under pressure from domestic rivals, “Apple” has been eliminated from the top 5 best-selling smartphone brands in China in the second quarter of 2024. According to the latest report from research firm Canalys, the iPhone maker’s market share in the mainland has dropped to 14%, down from 15% in the first quarter of the year and 16% compared to a year earlier.

Apple's iPhone is under great pressure from Chinese smartphone brands.

Apple – the third largest smartphone maker in China in the second quarter of 2023 – fell to sixth place with about 9.7 million iPhones shipped, according to CNBC calculations. Canalys analyst Lucas Zhong commented that this was the first quarter in history that domestic brands dominated the entire top 5.

Apple shipments have started to decline since the first quarter of 2024, down about 25% year-on-year to 10 million iPhones. According to Zhong, the strategy of domestic smartphone makers in the high-end segment, combined with deep collaboration with the local supply chain, has started to pay off. For example, Honor’s Magic V3 series of smartphones uses generative AI to improve the experience of foldable devices.

Canalys said that the Chinese smartphone market grew 10% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, with shipments exceeding 70 million units. Against this backdrop, domestic brands such as Vivo, Oppo, Honor, Huawei and Xiaomi have risen to occupy all the top five positions in the rankings.

From April to June, Vivo regained the top spot in the market with 19% market share and 13.1 million units sold thanks to strong sales in both online and offline channels during the 618 shopping festival. Oppo ranked second with 11.3 million units. Honor – a company spun off from Huawei – ranked third with 10.7 million units, up 4% from a year ago.

Huawei ranked fourth with a 15% market share and 10.6 million units sold. The company was not even on the list in the same period in 2023. Its consumer business started to grow strongly after the launch of the Mate 60 series. The top 5 belongs to Xiaomi.

Another report from research firm IDC also showed that smartphone sales here increased by 8.9% to 71.6 million units. Of which, Vivo, Huawei and Xiaomi all recorded double-digit growth. In addition, IDC's top 5 list is also different from Canalys, in order: Vivo, Huawei, Oppo, Honor and Xiaomi.

IDC said that the trend of “premiumization” is taking place in the Chinese market as users tend to keep their smartphones for longer periods of time. This helps boost the segment of devices priced above $600 to nearly 26% in the second quarter of 2024, up from 23% a year ago.

While Apple tries to maintain market share with price reduction strategies and expansion into other markets such as India and Vietnam, maintaining its position in the Chinese market remains a big challenge for the iPhone maker in the coming time.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/apple-bi-danh-bat-khoi-top-5-thuong-hieu-smartphone-hang-dau-tai-trung-quoc-280418.html