New phones from manufacturers such as Huawei and Apple contributed to growth in China’s smartphone sales last quarter, with the iPhone maker returning to the top five brands in the world’s largest mobile phone market.
China’s smartphone shipments rose 3.2% year-on-year to 68.8 million units in the quarter ended September, according to preliminary data released Friday by market intelligence firm IDC.
“A significant wave of device upgrades is driving the sustained recovery of China’s smartphone market,” Arthur Guo, senior research analyst at IDC China, said in the report. Despite China’s broader economic challenges, shoppers remain “highly motivated” to buy new mobile phones.
Huawei led the surge in smartphone shipments, which rose 42% year-on-year last quarter. The Chinese tech giant has now enjoyed four consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth following its return to the premium phone market with the Mate 60 last August. The phone was praised by Chinese state media for having an advanced domestically produced processor, despite US sanctions.
Last quarter, Huawei announced a tri-fold smartphone with three screens.
“Huawei’s double-digit growth was once again fueled by its premium image and the buzz it generated with its tri-fold phones,” said Will Wong, senior research manager in IDC’s Asia Pacific client devices group. .
Huawei is currently the third largest smartphone player in China with a 15.3% market share.
Apple, which released its latest iPhone on September 20, has returned to the top five smartphone manufacturers in China based on shipments. Apple has a 15.6% market share in China, ranking second overall, just ahead of Huawei, according to IDC data.
Apple was in 6th place in the second quarter of 2024; According to IDC said this was the first quarter in four years that the top five companies were entirely Chinese.
Still, Apple’s smartphone shipments fell 0.3% year over year last quarter. Upcoming shopping events such as Singles’ Day are likely to boost sales in the final quarter of the year.
Independent research has previously suggested that Apple is losing ground in China due to competition from local brands such as Huawei, Honor and Xiaomi.
Vivo led China’s mobile phone shipments last quarter with a market share of 18.6%. Xiaomi and Honor are in the top five after Apple and Huawei.
IDC expects smartphone shipments to improve in the final quarter of this year due to the early kick-off of Singles’ Day, the world’s biggest shopping festival.
Apple, Huawei, Vivo and Xiaomi each recorded 100 million yuan ($14 million) in direct sales on Monday, the first day of direct sales from e-commerce giant Alibaba. According to (Owned by Alibaba) South China Morning Post.
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