Apple’s smartphone sales in China fell 24 percent in the first six weeks of this year. The US firm has fallen to fourth place among smartphone vendors. Apple is facing increased competition from local manufacturers such as Huawei. China’s smartphone market as a whole is not doing well, Bloomberg wrote, citing data from analyst firm Counterpoint Research.
Huawei on the rise
By contrast, sales of premium smartphones by Apple‘s main competitor in China, Huawei, increased 64 percent in the period. According to Bloomberg, Huawei benefits, among other things, from the fact that the Chinese choose to buy phones of this brand for patriotic reasons.
Apple’s share of the Chinese smartphone market fell to 15.7 percent, ranking it fourth among vendors. In the same period last year, it held second place with a 19 percent market share.
Other local competitors
Huawei moved into second place, with its Chinese market share rising to 16.5 percent from 9.4 percent a year earlier. The overall smartphone market in China shrank by seven percent, according to Counterpoint Research.
The only other brand in the top five to see sales growth in the first six weeks of the year was Honor. The latter sold two percent more of its smartphones. The company split from Huawei in 2020. Other Chinese brands Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo saw sales fall by 15, seven and 29 per cent respectively in the same period.
Source: Czech Press Office
