Apple Inc lost its status as the best-selling smartphone brand in the crucial Chinese market last year, new data showed on Thursday, with a pair of local rivals surpassing it with surging shipments.
The California-based tech giant claimed a market share of 15 percent in the world’s number two economy, behind Huawei Technologies Co’s (華為) 16 percent and top-ranking Vivo Communication Technology Co’s (維沃) 17 percent, according to industry data provider Canalys.
Also coming in at 15 percent, with total smartphone sales narrowly behind Apple’s, were Chinese brands Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀) and Honor Device Co (榮耀), the data showed.
Photo: AFP
Apple’s performance in the country is suffering from a slump in iPhone sales, which dropped to 42.9 million last year, compared with a market-leading 51.8 million the previous year.
“Intense competition has led to a constantly shifting landscape,” Canalys research manager Amber Liu (劉藝璇) said, adding that Apple “faced growing competitive pressure from domestic flagship devices.”
Top-ranked Vivo showed “strong momentum” last year, Liu said, adding that the firm’s strategy was helping “solidify its position in entry-level to mid-to-high-end segments.”
Meanwhile, Huawei, a Shenzhen-based tech giant that was once the target of tough sanctions from Washington due to national security concerns, continued a resurgence in its home market last year.
The firm achieved a 37 percent year-on-year jump in total smartphone shipments last year, the Canalys data showed.
Apple’s iPhone remains popular in China, but many consumers in the vast market have switched to domestic alternatives in recent years as sector competition intensifies.
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited China multiple times last year, as the US tech giant sought to shore up slumping sales in the country.
Apple’s fourth-quarter smartphone shipments plunged 25 percent from a year ago, Canalys data showed.
The Chinese smartphone market as a whole expanded five percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, the report added, with total shipments reaching 77.4 million units.
Beijing last week announced that it would roll out subsidies for individual purchases of certain smartphones, part of a discount scheme it hopes would boost spending as the economy wavers.
The latest policy “has laid the foundation for this year’s market growth,” Canalys research analyst Lucas Zhong (鐘曉磊) said, adding that “vendors have already begun preparations for channels and supply.”
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