China: Apple moves from 1st to 5th place for the iPhone, according to analysts
The iPhone 15 is selling worse in China than Apple had hoped. According to Canalys, Huawei is making significant sales gains.
![Apple Store in Peking](https://heise.cloudimg.io/width/610/q85.png-lossy-85.webp-lossy-85.foil1/_www-heise-de_/imgs/18/4/5/8/0/3/4/2/394291956_dea1b34f8f-7dae27cc8348b9ac.png)
Apple Store in Peking.
(Bild: dpa, Mark Schiefelbein/AP/dpa)
It has been known for months that Apple's business in China is creaking badly. Even new sales measures to boost business appear to be having little effect. A new market analysis by supply chain specialist Canalys now shows that Apple smartphones have apparently fallen even further than previously expected. According to the study, the iPhone slipped from first place (Q1/2023) to fifth place in terms of market share in China. However, the overall market has apparently recovered, growing for the first time in two years to 67.7 million units sold across all brands.
Huawei all patriotic
According to Canalys, the winner in the Chinese market, which is so important for Apple, in the first quarter is the telecommunications giant Huawei, which can also rely on patriotism as a purely Chinese brand in its sales strategy. After a total of 13 quarters, Huawei returned to first place in the sales charts with a 17% market share and 11.7 million smartphones sold. However, Oppo is only slightly behind with 10.9 million devices and a 16% market share, while Honor also holds a 16% market share with 10.6 million units sold.
This is followed by Vivo (10.3 million units, 15 percent market share) and Apple (15 percent market share, 10 million iPhones sold). According to Canalys, Huawei gained a massive 70% market share. Oppo lost 14 percent, Honor gained 9 percent and Vivo lost 9 percent. Apple suffered the biggest loss with a 25% drop in market share, similar figures had already been reported previously.
Top seller Mate 60
Huawei needs the Chinese market to compensate for losses in its foreign business. The pro-government company is suffering from sanctions imposed by the United States, among other things. The Mate 60 Pro is marketed as completely "made in China" including its own 7-nanometer SoC. The company is also working on its own operating system called HarmonyOS, as US technology such as Android or Google Mobile Services cannot be used. HarmonyOS could therefore become the direct competitor to iOS in China.
Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook is trying to spread good vibes in China, including during a visit to Shanghai. Apple is also suffering from the fact that authorities are no longer supposed to use iPhones, even though the devices are largely manufactured in China. In addition to Canalys, Counterpoint has also reported similarly poor data for the iPhone in China. Here, too, Huawei is reported to have grown by almost 70 percent, while Apple is said to have sold almost 20 percent less.
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(bsc)