Apple’s dominance in China’s high-end smartphone market is being challenged by local rivals, including US-sanctioned Huawei Technologies, according to new data from industry consultancy IDC.
While smartphone shipments in China rose 6.5 per cent to 69.3 million devices in the first quarter, Apple shipped 10.8 million iPhones, down from 14.7 million in the fourth quarter last year, IDC data showed.
The US tech giant, which was the top smartphone vendor in the last quarter of 2023, saw its market share in the past quarter fall to 15.6 per cent from 17.8 per cent a year earlier. It lagged Chinese manufacturers Honor and Huawei, which grabbed 17.1 per cent and 17 per cent of the market, respectively.
“Apple faces increasing competition despite its strategy to prop up sales by cutting prices,” said Antonio Wang, vice-president of IDC China.
Apple is also exploring a tie-up with Chinese web search and AI giant Baidu to install the latter’s Ernie chatbot on iPhones sold in China, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal last month.
Despite losing out to domestic brands in China’s overall smartphone market, Apple still topped the premium segment, which consists of handsets priced over US$600. However, its market share dropped to 58 per cent in the March quarter from 70 per cent a year ago, according to Arthur Guo, senior research analyst at IDC China.
Huawei’s share in the high-end market jumped to 20 per cent in the past quarter, up from 12 per cent year on year, thanks mainly to strong demand for its 5G-enabled Mate 60 series, Guo said. Honor’s share also expanded steadily to reach 9 per cent.
“Huawei’s comeback has disrupted the market equilibrium,” Wang said, while adding that Huawei still faces “supply-chain bottlenecks” that could impede its growth.
Globally, smartphone makers shipped a total of 289 million units in the first quarter, marking a 7.8 per cent year-on-year rebound and continuing a growth trajectory for the third quarter in a row, according to IDC.