Apple Falls to Third Place in China's Smartphone Market Amid Sales Decline

[MacRumors]

Apple has experienced a significant decline in iPhone sales in China, dropping from the leading position to third place in the country's smartphone market during the fourth quarter of 2024.

According to a new report from Counterpoint Research, iPhone shipments in China fell by 18.2% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2024. This decline resulted in a 17.1% market share for the company, placing it behind Huawei and Xiaomi, which captured 18.1% and 17.2% of the market, respectively. The fall comes just a year after Apple held the top position in the market with a 19% share. This is apparently the first time since the U.S. ban on Huawei that Apple has been displaced by its Chinese competitor.

Apple's reduced performance in China has been attributed to several factors, including heightened competition from domestic brands and its inability to bring Apple Intelligence to the region. While Apple Intelligence was introduced alongside the iPhone 16 lineup in September 2024 in the United States, it has not been made available in China due to regulatory constraints. The company is believed to be partnering with Chinese companies to deliver the features at a later date. Huawei's strong growth in the fourth quarter—up 15.5% year-on-year—has been largely credited to AI features in its flagship Mate 70 devices and the mid-range Nova 13 series.

It is also of note that China's smartphone market experienced a 3.2% year-on-year decline in the fourth quarter of 2024, marking the only quarter of the year with negative growth. Despite these obstacles, Apple maintained its position as the third-largest smartphone brand in China for the quarter, and its sales were closely matched with Xiaomi, which recorded a 17.2% market share.

Article Link: Apple Falls to Third Place in China's Smartphone Market Amid Sales Decline

 

[Expos of 1969]

Selling boring products, no surprise.

 

[jonnysods]

I mean it makes sense, you can't beat China's price game.

 

[jonnysods]

Selling boring products, no surprise.

I don't know what you can do to make a phone exciting, to me they are all boring rectangles with good cameras.

 

[Kissmo1980]

Good.
Maybe these things will wake them up, and make them remember how they used to take risks and bring high quality and innovation.

They are still great in my eyes, I love their products and have many, but somehow they seem to have stagnated after their M series innovation.
Others are catching up fast.

 

[Octavius8]

That’s what too much self pride gets you!
Check the latest Huawei phones: they feel “new”. iPhones are basically the same year after year, just tiny camera changes. Nothing feels new.
Even the famous iPhone battery duration is a little poor for the price comparatively.
Shame Huawei was blocked because it caused the smartphone market to stall several years.

 

[JohnRckr]

I mean it makes sense, you can't beat China's price game.

And their innovative approach.

 

[AnthonyAnt]

I'm going to be honest right now. I have owned every iPhone since iPhone 3G, so that's 2008? 2009? The iPhone peaked around the iPhone 13 Pro Max (it worked so well, no major hardware or software issues, and the phone actually worked). I currently have the iPhone 16 Pro Max and it's the most lackluster iPhone upgrade I have ever had. Let alone the constant weekly software issues that Apple just does not seem to be fixing or getting a handle on.

 

[GeoStructural]

Selling boring products, no surprise.

Exactly. People will always bring up the iPhone’s high price, but guess what, other manufacturers have flagships too, around the same price point and they are selling well.

The iPhone feels less and less exciting every year, they cannot compete with software either, iOS keeps coming short in stability and features.

In a recent trip to Europe I could see I was among the minority owning an iPhone. When exchanging contact information with colleagues very few pulled out an Apple device, and this is by choice, these are people who can afford it.

 

[Imperial926]

I think many of you forget that all technologies plateau eventually. An iPhone is now a highly versatile device and everyone will have a different balance of uses for it. If you think it's ordinary and boring try losing it for a few days. The issue with other brands is simply the OS and the fact that no other phone can match the video capabilities of the iPhone. I very much doubt that many of you would enjoy long-term use of these Chines phones after an iPhone.

 

[kiranmk2]

Good.
Maybe these things will wake them up, and make them remember how they used to take risks and bring high quality and innovation.

They are still great in my eyes, I love their products and have many, but somehow they seem to have stagnated after their M series innovation.
Others are catching up fast.

Sadly, I think the only thing it's going to invigorate Apple to do is to cut costs and drive up average selling price to combat falling sales as they have been doing for many years now.

I think Chinese sales have been at risk for a while now due to local manufacturers bringing more innovation to the market (even if it's not actually that useful or well-realised) and growing awareness in China of the US' increasingly hostile attitude towards China, invoking a growing desire to buy local.

Like it or not, AI is the new battle-ground for smartphones and Apple is seemingly behind the curve compared to Goolge/Android. Can on-device context (iOS 18.4) and an LLM Siri (iOS 19.x) result in better performance & increased sales? We'll have to see how these updates are judged and what state the economy is in

 

[nuckinfutz]

Only boring people are bored.

If the rank and file user understood "innovation" they'd be listing the features that they consider innovative. Instead they are looking to be entertained by the feature they "didn't" see coming.

We all love the social aspect of Tech which is why we frequent tech based forums but in reality there's a wide chasm between the casual tech fan and the actual engineering focused required to implement updates that appeal to a wide cross section of people.

Typically with innovation you need a new technological advancement that undergirds the innovation that rests on top providing a UI to take advantage. Folding phones are not innovative Gen X lived on flip phones.

To me the play is Ecosystem. Until the next big advancement comes tying all the pieces together in a cogent matter is key.

 

[Imperial926]

Exactly. People will always bring up the iPhone’s high price, but guess what, other manufacturers have flagships too, around the same price point and they are selling well.

The iPhone feels less and less exciting every year, they cannot compete with software either, iOS keeps coming short in stability and features.

In a recent trip to Europe I could see I was among the minority owning an iPhone. When exchanging contact information with colleagues very few pulled out an Apple device, and this is by choice, these are people who can afford it.

It's certainly less prominent in France but in the UK it's far more common. There is still, rightly or wrongly, a sense that if you don't have an iPhone it's simply because you either can't afford it or don't really care about an iPhone and what it can do.
My wife and I have access to a number of Android devices and frankly can't wait to grab our main phones again.

 

[kiranmk2]

Exactly. People will always bring up the iPhone’s high price, but guess what, other manufacturers have flagships too, around the same price point and they are selling well.

The iPhone feels less and less exciting every year, they cannot compete with software either, iOS keeps coming short in stability and features.

In a recent trip to Europe I could see I was among the minority owning an iPhone. When exchanging contact information with colleagues very few pulled out an Apple device, and this is by choice, these are people who can afford it.

Non-US territories have always favoured Android over iOS due to the lower price of handsets. This is also the reason WhatsApp is the most used messaging app (way ahead of iMessage) as there is no green bubble embarrassment over here.

 

[bradman83]

Good.
Maybe these things will wake them up, and make them remember how they used to take risks and bring high quality and innovation.

Except Apple has almost never taken risks with the iPhone though throughout its entire history, even in the vaunted Jobs era. Yes, they technically invented the segment, but they were rarely first to market with major new features, be it third party apps, 4G LTE, 5G, high DPI displays, high refresh rate displays, always-on displays, OLED, higher megapixel cameras, multi-camera arrays, larger camera sensors, HDR processing, night mode, NFC payments, etc.

All of the above, and more, debuted on other phones. Apple waited until the technology was mature and polished enough and then included it as an iPhone feature (with said features generally being implemented extremely well by the time Apple includes it).

Current features people on these forums tend to pine for, like foldables, under-display cameras, and under-display fingerprint sensors, still carry a lot of compromises (okay maybe not the fingerprint sensors but Apple seems pretty content to be all in on Face ID) so Apple won't include them.

 

[bax2023]

I don't know what you can do to make a phone exciting, to me they are all boring rectangles with good cameras.

Look for example visual and feature changes for example on Honor Magic Pro 5 to 7 generations. Or maybe Huawei Pura 70 Pro/Ultra comparing to the previous gens. These brands are trying MUCH harder then Apple with changes such are action button or dynamic island....

 

[contacos]

I mean ... it is not like it is any different in the US with a local vendor (Apple) having the most shares

 

[kiranmk2]

It's certainly less prominent in France but in the UK it's far more common. There is still, rightly or wrongly, a sense that if you don't have an iPhone it's simply because you either can't afford it or don't really care about an iPhone and what it can do.
My wife and I have access to a number of Android devices and frankly can't wait to grab our main phones again.

Even in the UK, I would estimate that Android is the most-used OS. iPhone is likely more used in certain circles, but at my work (where everyone is university educated at minimum and vast majority earn over national average salary) it's pretty much 50:50 iPhone:Android.

 

[Expos of 1969]

Exactly. People will always bring up the iPhone’s high price, but guess what, other manufacturers have flagships too, around the same price point and they are selling well.

The iPhone feels less and less exciting every year, they cannot compete with software either, iOS keeps coming short in stability and features.

In a recent trip to Europe I could see I was among the minority owning an iPhone. When exchanging contact information with colleagues very few pulled out an Apple device, and this is by choice, these are people who can afford it.

Just for your interest, as of last month here in Finland...

iPhone 33%
Samsung 32%
Xiaomi 11%
OnePlus 8%
Huawei 2%
Pixel 0.6%

 

[DoctorMesmer]

Huawei's strong growth in the fourth quarter—up 15.5% year-on-year—has been largely credited to AI features in its flagship Mate 70 devices and the mid-range Nova 13 series.

Compare with recent news that Apple Intelligence was failing to persuade people to buy new iPhones. This suggests that it’s not AI in general that people are unimpressed with, it’s Apple Intelligence. This is bad news for Apple.

 

[I7guy]

3rd place in a declining market is a win.

 

[nuff_said]

I think many of you forget that all technologies plateau eventually. An iPhone is now a highly versatile device and everyone will have a different balance of uses for it. If you think it's ordinary and boring try losing it for a few days. The issue with other brands is simply the OS and the fact that no other phone can match the video capabilities of the iPhone. I very much doubt that many of you would enjoy long-term use of these Chines phones after an iPhone.

Technologies do plateau but consumers are still buying phones and many in China aren’t choosing the iPhone.
Consumers in Asia lean to Android because they tend to be more rational with spending and just want a phone that works. Android works just like iOS works but in Asia the packaging (ie the phone holding the OS) are significantly more attractive that what is available elsewhere.
Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Huawei are impressive. Many have used Android for years if not their entire lives.
Apple’s business model for the past several years has been repacking, increase ASP, and sell you services. Their model has shifted and Asia doesn’t care for it. Most view it as why spend 1,000s of dollars for the same outcome I can get, with an OS I’ve used for years, for a fraction of the price in a more attractive package? Plus, they support local - there is a huge support for local brands

 

[Abazigal]

How quickly people forget.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-sales-in-china-dropped-significantly-in-q1-2024.2424731/

Reported by the same company some more.

Followed by Apple going on to refute the report during their quarterly earnings.

Apple Reports 2Q 2024 Results: $23.6B Profit on $90.8B Revenue

Apple today announced financial results for the second fiscal quarter of 2024, which corresponds to the first calendar quarter of the year. For the...

www.macrumors.com

2:06 pm: Now going over ‌iPhone‌ revenue, $46 billion, down 10% year over year, but notes growth in mainland China and that the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro Max were the best-selling smartphones in Urban China.

You think users would have caught on by now, but I suppose the siren's call of getting to bash Apple at every opportunity is just too tempting to pass up. 🙃

But I guess we will know in another week or so.

 

[kaycrystal626]

That's what you get for the hype of half-baked products like Apple Intelligence!

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Seems like everyone forgot the Chinese government banned non-Chinese cellphones for use in government-controlled offices.

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-bans-govt-officials-using-iphone-work-wsj-2023-09-06/