Tim Hardwick
Analyst firm Canalys released its latest report on the Chinese smartphone market for the first quarter of 2024, and Apple was the worst performer among the top five brands vying for supremacy in Asia's largest economy.
Huawei returned to first place after 13 quarters with a market share of 17%. The local supplier sold 11.7 million smartphones thanks to its popular Mate and nova series, while OPPO rose to second place thanks to the strong performance of its Reno 11 series, shipping 10.9 million units. HONOR, vivo and Apple, on the other hand, slowed their sales this quarter, ranking third, fourth and fifth respectively.
HONOR shipped 10.6 million units with a 16% share, up 9% year-on-year, while vivo shipped 10.3 million units with a 15% share, down 9% last year. %. Apple lost the most among the top five, falling to fifth place from first place, with 10 million units and a 15% share, down 25% from last year.
Huawei's numbers rose. That's up 70% from a year earlier, when the company was still reorganizing its phone business following U.S. sanctions. The Huawei 5G Mate 60 Pro uses a Chinese 7nm processor specifically designed for the local market, showcasing the advanced semiconductor manufacturing capabilities that US sanctions were originally designed to prevent.
Huawei has since launched a new line of flagship Pure smartphones and has been busy developing its own operating system, HarmonyOS, since it could not use Google Android and Google Mobile Services. The ongoing expansion of the HarmonyOS ecosystem disrupts the competition between Android and iOS in mainland China.
The latest data is unlikely to make for pleasant reading for Apple CEO Tim Cook after his trip to China to open a new major store in Shanghai. During his visit, amid strong fourth-quarter results in China, Cook announced the expansion of Apple's research and development center in the city, highlighting China's critical role in the company's strategy. Cook also attended the China Development Forum in Beijing, where he said the country was “critical” to Apple.
Apple is deepening its ties with China even as it expands production in Southeast Asia and India. Approximately 17% of Apple's net sales from October to December came from the Greater China region, making it the largest regional supplier in the company's supply chain. But Apple faces an uphill battle to reverse the decline in iPhone sales there, with a 24% year-on-year decline in 2023 forecast to deepen through 2024.
Tags: Canalys, China, Huawei[ 106 comments ]
