Apple CEO Tim Cook holds up the new iPhone 15 Pro at an Apple event in Cupertino, California on September 12, 2023.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Apple has become China’s largest smartphone vendor by shipments for the first time, according to new data for 2023 released on Thursday.
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the iPhone maker’s market share in China will reach 17.3% in 2023, a record high for the company in the world’s second-largest economy.
According to IDC, Apple’s overall smartphone shipments in 2023 decreased by 2.2% year-on-year, and the overall market decreased by 5%. Shipments are devices that Apple sends to third-party sellers and are not equivalent to direct sales. However, these are indicators of demand.
Arthur Guo, senior research analyst at IDC China, said in a press release: “Apple’s rise to the top spot in 2023 is a sign of Apple’s rise to the top spot in 2023, especially given renewed competition with Huawei and weak consumer confidence. It means a huge success for us.”
“Apple achieved this thanks to timely price promotions in third-party channels, stimulating demand.”
In fact, many Chinese online sales platforms offered discounts on the flagship iPhone 15 in the fourth quarter. This month, Apple took the unusual step of offering discounts on the entire iPhone 15 series on its website in China to keep the momentum going.
China’s smartphone market has been hit by the country’s uncertain economic environment and weak consumer spending.
In 2023, Honor, a spin-off from Chinese company Huawei, took second place with a market share of 16.8%, followed by Vivo, Huawei, and Oppo.
Another market research firm, Counterpoint Research, also released statistics on China on Thursday. Counterpoint said it expects the Chinese market to register low single-digit year-on-year growth in 2024, the first time since 2018.
One of the biggest changes in 2023 is Huawei’s return to the top-5 ranking in China in the fourth quarter after being out of the top group for more than two years.
Huawei was once the world’s largest smartphone maker from China. But the Chinese tech giant’s mobile phone business has been hit by U.S. sanctions that cut it off from key technologies such as cutting-edge semiconductors and software.
But last year, Huawei debuted a phone powered by cutting-edge semiconductors made by SMIC, China’s largest chipmaker. This was a big surprise, given that US sanctions are designed to stop this from happening.
Its new phone, the Mate 60, helped Huawei make big profits in China. According to IDC, Huawei’s shipments rose 36% year-on-year in the December quarter, giving it a market share of 13.9%.
Huawei removed Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi from the top five.
“This will only intensify competition, as no vendor wants to lose their top-five position in the world’s largest smartphone market,” Will Wong, senior research manager at IDC, said in a statement.