- By Mariko Oi
- Business reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Sales in China of Apple’s iPhone fell by 24% in the first six weeks of 2024 compared to a year earlier, according to research firm Counterpoint.
It comes as the US technology giant is facing fierce competition in the country from local rivals.
During the same period China’s Huawei saw its sales jump by 64% in its home market, the report says.
Apple and Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the BBC.
Aside from a resurgence of Huawei sales at the more expensive end of the Chinese phone market, Apple was also “squeezed in the middle on aggressive pricing from the likes of Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi,” Counterpoint’s Mengmeng Zhang wrote.
China, which is one of Apple’s biggest markets, also saw overall smartphone sales shrink by 7% in the same period, Counterpoint said.
Huawei struggled for years due to US sanctions but its sales surged after releasing its Mate 60 series of 5G smartphones in August.
It came as a major surprise as the Chinese firm was cut off from key chips and technology required for 5G mobile internet.
Honor, which is the smartphone brand spun off from Huawei in 2020, was the only other top-five brand to see sales increase in China during the period, according to the report.
Sales of Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo also fell in the first six weeks of the year, Counterpoint said.
Apple started offering discounts on its official sites in China last month before subsidising certain iPhone models through its flagship stores on Alibaba’s marketplace platform Tmall last week.
The firm said sales in China were $20.82bn (£16.4bn) in the last three months of 2023, down from $23.9bn in the previous year.
Apple shares fell by 2.8% in New York trade on Tuesday.
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
