Huawei Takes Another Bite Out of Apple's Market Share in China

A slew of new smartphone launches from Chinese technology giant Huawei weighed on Apple in the first quarter of the year, with the iPhone-maker seeing its worst performance in China since 2020.

Apple’s smartphone shipments in China tumbled 19% in the first quarter of the year, while Huawei saw sales jump 70%.

Effectively, Apple’s share in the world’s biggest smartphone market fell to 15.7% in the first quarter from 19.7% a year earlier, according to Hong Kong-based research firm Counterpoint.

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Huawei’s market share, on the other hand, jumped to 15.5% from 9.3% a year earlier coming almost level with Apple.

Apple also lost its crown as the biggest smartphone seller in China to rival Vivo, sliding to third place in the quarter. Honor, a mass market brand spun out of Huawei, was in second place.

“Huawei’s comeback has directly impacted Apple in the premium segment. Besides, the replacement demand for Apple has been slightly subdued compared to previous years,” Counterpoint analyst Ivan Lam said in a press release.

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Apple struggled to drive sales in China despite offering rare discounts, including subsidising certain iPhone models by as much as 1,300 yuan ($180), throughout the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Huawei last week released its Pura 70 series of high-end phones after launching the Mate 60 series in August.

The Mate 60 was seen as a comeback for the Chinese firm in the high-end market and described as its triumph over US sanctions, with the handsets containing an advanced 7nm homegrown chip.

Buzz around the Mate 60 series’ abilities and patriotic fervour helped Huawei sell so many phones that it stemmed a 10-quarter-long downturn in China’s smartphone market.

Canadian research firm TechInsights expects overall shipments in China this year to top 50 million units, including 10 million for the Pura 70 series.

That would make Huawei the No-1 seller in China with a 19% market share, up from 12% in 2023.

For now, Counterpoint’s Lam says his firm is seeing slow but steady improvement in Apple’s weekly iPhone sales.

“For the second quarter, the possibility of new colour options combined with aggressive sales initiatives could bring [Apple] back into positive territory.”