Despite the overall slowdown in China’s mobile market this year, Apple has bucked the trend and expanded its smartphone market share in the country thanks to strong sales of the iPhone 13. According to Strategy Analytics, 14 million smartphones were sold during China’s annual “6.18” online shopping festival in June, a 25 percent market-wide decline. Chinese brands including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo all experienced significant declines in shipments, but iPhone sales remained relatively stable.
Apple outperformed its competitors, selling nearly 7 million iPhones during the shopping holiday season, and the company ranked first in revenue share across all major merchant platforms.
The market in China reflects a global trend. According to a recent Canalys report, global smartphone shipments fell 9 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2022, while Apple achieved a 17 percent market share, up 3 percent year-over-year. While Samsung’s share also increased to 21 percent, Chinese vendors Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo all saw their market share drop, to 14 percent, 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
The data shows that iPhone 13 demand in China has been surprisingly resilient despite widespread supply chain issues and economic headwinds affecting the tech industry. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes iPhone 14 demand is expected to maintain Apple’s momentum, especially given Huawei’s exit from China’s high-end 5G smartphone market and Apple’s replacement and dominance in that market.
All in all, Apple’s solid position in China is good news for the iPhone 14, which is expected to launch in September this year. The lineup is expected to include the 6.1-inch iPhone 14, the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, and the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max.
