Huawei Overtakes Apple in China’s Smartphone Market Amid Sales Surge

Apple’s iPhone sales in China have plummeted, falling behind Huawei.

According to Counterpoint, on the 5th, Apple faced intensified competition with Chinese companies such as Huawei in the first six weeks of 2024, resulting in a 24% decrease in iPhone sales in China compared to last year.

On the other hand, Huawei, Apple’s main competitor in China’s premium smartphone market, saw a 64% increase in sales during this period.

According to the report, Apple’s share of the Chinese smartphone market fell to 15.7%, dropping from second place with 19% last year to fourth place.

In place of Apple, Huawei, which increased from 9.4% to 16.5% compared to last year, took second place.

Huawei, struggling for years due to U.S. regulations on exporting core components, made a comeback in the premium smartphone market by launching the Mate 60 series last August.

Mengmeng Zhang, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, said, “Apple is under pressure amid aggressive pricing by OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi, etc. while facing high price competition due to the resurgence of Huawei.”

This result could fan concerns about Apple’s demand slowdown as this quarter’s sales outlook is below Wall Street’s estimated $6 billion.

Last week, Apple began paying a subsidy of 1,300 yuan ($180.68) for specific iPhone models through Alibaba’s main marketplace platform, Tmall flagship store.

Last month, Apple offered a discount of up to 500 yuan ($69.34) on iPhones on its official site.

Apple’s stock fell 2.2% in pre-market trading and has lost about 10% of its value this year, underperforming compared to other big tech companies in the U.S.