According to research firm Counterpoint, in the first six weeks of 2024, Apple's best-selling product, the iPhone, saw a 24% year-on-year decrease in sales in China due to increasingly fierce competition from domestic competitors such as Huawei.
This report also shows that Huawei, the main player in China's high-end smartphone market, saw a 64% increase in sales during the same period. Apart from Huawei, another mobile phone brand that achieved year-on-year sales growth was Honor, which was spun off from Huawei in 2020, with Honor phones growing by 2% year-on-year.
In terms of market share, Apple's market share in the Chinese smartphone market has dropped to 15.7%, ranking fourth. In the same period of 2023, Apple's market share was 19%, ranking second; Huawei's market share has expanded from 9.4% a year ago to 16.5%, rising to second place.
It is worth mentioning that in the first six weeks of this year, the "sales champion" in the domestic smartphone market was neither Apple nor Huawei, but Vivo, which has a wider layout in the sinking market. Although its sales have declined year-on-year, it still holds the largest market share of 18%.
Zhang Mengmeng, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, pointed out that Apple can be said to be "under attack" in the domestic market. "Apple faces fierce competition from Huawei in the high-end market, while being squeezed by aggressive pricing from companies such as OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi in the mid-range market."
IPhone thousand yuan subsidy
In fact, there are already signs of a decline in iPhone sales. Last month, the company already offered an iPhone discount of up to 500 yuan on its official website.
In addition, during last week's Women's Day promotion, Apple began to provide subsidies for iPhone models through Alibaba's Tmall flagship store, with a subsidy amount of up to RMB 1000.
Ivan Lam, Senior Analyst at Counterpoint, said, "Consumer confidence needs to improve in order to stabilize the market... For Apple, there is still more room for maneuver in the short term. This weekend's aggressive promotional campaign is an example."
Compared to Apple's predicament, Huawei's high-end smartphone sales have shown a recovery, with sales skyrocketing since the release of the Mate 60 series in August.
According to investment bank Jeffrey's forecast, Apple's shipment volume will continue to decline in double digits in 2024, while Huawei's market share is expected to continue to expand.