Q2 2024 Highlights

Market Highlights

• China’s smartphone market increased 10% YoY to reach 67.9 million unit shipments in Q2 2024 on the back of a robust 618 shopping festival period.
• vivo maintained its leading position in the Chinese market with an improved product mix, where the premium X100 series accounted for a bigger sales share than past years.
• Apple's shipments registered marginal decline in Q2 2024 but iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max contributed around half of Apple’s sales, signifying Chinese consumers’ preference for the Pro models.
• Huawei was the fastest growing OEM driven by the Pura 70 series and Nova 12 series.

Q1 2024 Highlights

Published Date: May 21, 2024

Market Highlights

• China’s smartphone shipments rose 2% YoY in Q1 2024, staying on track to low-digit annual growth.
• HONOR emerged as the market leader with a 17% share driven by its mass-market products.
• Huawei’s shipments increased more than 60% YoY with more of its devices being powered by self-developed chipsets.
• Apple’s shipments declined more than 10% YoY due to strong pressure from local competitors in premium price bands.
• China Q1 2024 smartphone market share rankings (based on shipments):

○ HONOR: 17%
○ Huawei: 17%
○ Apple market share: 16%
○ OPPO: 16%
○ vivo: 15%
○ Others: 19%

China Smartphone Shipments Market Share (%)

Q4 2023 Highlights

Published Date: February 21, 2024

Market Highlights

• China’s smartphone shipments rose 1% YoY in Q4 2023, marking the first quarterly increase in more than two years. This was due to OEMs restocking for newly launched models.
• Though Apple offered big promotions for the iPhone 15 series, it still witnessed a 6% YoY drop in shipments due to fierce competition from Huawei’s return.
• Huawei’s shipments almost doubled YoY driven by the hot-selling Mate 60 series as well as the newly launched Nova 12 series.
• Xiaomi saw a strong 13% YoY increase mainly driven by the newly launched Xiaomi 14 series and Redmi K70 series.
• HONOR also saw a 1% YoY uptick.

China Smartphone Shipments Market Share (%)

Q3 2023 Highlights

Published Date: November 10, 2023

Market Highlights

• China’s smartphone shipments fell 2% YoY in Q3 2023, narrowing the YoY decline sequentially. This was due to OEMs restocking in preparation for new model launches.

• Huawei’s shipments soared 41% YoY as its newly launched Mate 60 series with Kirin SoC gained momentum immediately after the launch. Apple experienced a slight YoY uptick in shipments driven by the newly launched iPhone 15 series, but the initial supply constraints impacted its overall performance. HONOR also increased YoY mainly driven by the hot-selling HONOR X50 and HONOR 90. OnePlus’ robust growth drove up OPPO’s shipments.

• We expect to see a YoY growth in Q4 2023 as all Chinese OEMs are expected to launch their new models then. It is worth noting that this will come on last year’s low base, as many Chinese cities were still under lockdowns during the same period last year.

China Smartphone Shipments Market Share (%)

Q2 2023 Highlights

Published Date: August 17, 2023

Market Highlights

• Smartphone shipments in China fell 4% YoY in Q2 2023 though OEMs provided big promotions during the 618 festival. This was due to weak demands resulting from economic headwinds.

• Apple saw the biggest YoY growth in Q2 as the OEM offered generous price-cuts for the iPhone 14 series during the 618 period. Besides, it still has no competitors in the high-end market which has proven to be more resilient during market headwinds.

• OPPO’s share grew slightly (YoY) as OnePlus showed strong growth piggybacking of the channel support from OPPO. OnePlus compensated for OPPO’s limited online presence by using its online-centric business model to effectively tap into the segment.

• vivo and Xiaomi saw YoY declines as weak economy dampened consumer spending.

• HONOR’s share dropped significantly (YoY) partially because Huawei’s growth posted a challenge for HONOR.

• We anticipate an improvement in smartphone shipments during H2 compared to H1, a strong rebound does not seem to be on the horizon as challenges that affected the performance in H1 are likely to persist.

China Smartphone Shipments Market Share (%)

Q1 2023 Highlights

Published Date: May 16, 2023

Market Highlights

• China’s smartphone shipments declined 8% YoY in Q1 2023, reaching their lowest level since Q1 2020. However, this was an improvement from the double-digit YoY declines seen in previous quarters as well as a sign of bottoming out.

• Apple’s market share in China increased to 20% in Q1 2023 from 18% in Q1 2022. This was driven by its continued expansion in China’s premium segment with more aggressive promotion and marketing campaigns for the iPhone 14 series.

• In contrast, all the major Android OEMs saw YoY declines as demand in the mass market remained weak. OEMs remained cautious in ramping up production to manage demand carefully and avoid any unhealthy inventory build-up in the market.

• Despite this caution, we expect the market to further recover in H2 2023, as inventory pressure continues to ease and consumer sentiments improve.

For our detailed research on the China smartphone sales market share Q1 2023, click here.

China Smartphone Shipments Market Share (%)