Apple Shipments Down 5.4% in China

Japanese media reports that Apple phones are facing a tough battle in the Chinese market, with shipments dropping by 5.4%

In the past year, Apple's performance in the Chinese market has not been very good, as can be seen from some recently released data. Recently, Japanese media have paid attention to the performance of Apple phones in the Chinese market, stating that they have "fallen into a tough battle" and their shipments have decreased by 5.4%.

According to the latest data released by international analysis firm IDC, Huawei's smartphone shipments in China in 2024 have increased significantly by 50.1% compared to the previous year. Japanese media reported that Huawei has upgraded its self-developed chips and operating system (OS) on different models, improving user convenience. On the other hand, Apple's shipments in China have decreased by 5.4%, putting it in a tough battle.

From the overall market perspective, the shipment volume of smartphones in China increased by 5.6% year-on-year in 2024, reaching 286 million units, marking the first increase in three years. Previously, China's smartphone market continued to decline due to various factors such as the pandemic, and 2023 was the year with the lowest shipment volume in the past decade.

In terms of brand share, Huawei ranks second with 16.6%, which is very close to Vivo's 17.2% share. According to Japanese media, Huawei has been ranked first in the Chinese market as of 2020, but due to becoming a target of US technology export controls, it fell out of the top five in 2021-2023. However, Huawei has developed a chip that can achieve communication at the same level as 5G and is installed in the new model. In addition, an autonomous operating system that does not use the Android system has been developed. In contrast, Apple, which was once ranked first in 2023, has fallen to third place in 2024.