Accordingly, the decline in sales of "Apple" is also a factor causing total smartphone sales shipped in China to decrease by double digits in the first week of the new year, in the context that Huawei and other Android brands still maintain relatively stable growth.

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iPhone sales in China are expected to continue to decline by double digits in 2024.

Apple has been unable to salvage sales there despite steep discounts on many iPhone models through major online marketplaces, the research firm said. For example, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max were discounted 16% on e-commerce platform Pinduoduo in the first week of 2024.

The 30% decline represents a significant decline for Apple compared to the 3% decline for the whole of 2023. China is the third largest market for the “Apple House”. According to Jefferies, the 3% decline in 2023 is equivalent to a 0.4% decrease in the US company's market share.

Analysts said Apple's decline was largely due to competitive pressure from mainland rivals, especially Huawei with its Mate 60 Pro smartphone model last August.

Data for the last quarter of 2023 shows that Huawei's market share in its "home market" increased by 6%.

Apple could face even greater competitive pressure from rivals in 2024. Jefferies predicts the iPhone giant’s shipments will continue to decline by double digits, with market share lost to Huawei.

Specifically, they estimate Huawei will ship around 64 million smartphones worldwide in 2024 — up significantly from an estimated under 35 million units shipped in 2023.

(According to Reuters)

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