Foreign smartphone sales in China saw a significant decline in November, posing a substantial challenge to Apple’s dominance in the competitive market.
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Shipments of foreign-branded smartphones to China, including Apple’s iPhone, declined sharply by 47.4 per cent in November compared to the same month last year. The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) released the data on Friday.
This also marks the fourth consecutive month of declining sales.
According to CAICT data, shipments of foreign smartphone brands dropped to 3.04 million units in November, down from 5.77 million units a year earlier. The downturn follows a 44.25 per cent year-on-year decline reported in October.
Apple faces challenges from an economic slowdown and increasing competition from domestic rivals such as Huawei. Economic uncertainty and deflationary pressures have also impacted consumer spending, with Chinese consumer prices hitting their lowest level in five months in November.
In response to the decline in sales, Apple initiated a four-day promotional campaign in China, offering discounts of up to 500 yuan ($68.50) on its flagship models. Despite these efforts, Apple has been losing market share.
Huawei’s resurgence began in August 2023 with new models featuring domestically produced chipsets. During the third quarter of 2024, Huawei’s sales in China surged by 42 per cent year over year, while Apple’s sales dipped by 0.3 per cent, according to data from research firm IDC.
Apple briefly fell out of the top five smartphone vendors in China during the second quarter of 2024 but regained its position in the following quarter.
However, smartphone shipments within China, including domestic brands, fell by 5.1 per cent in November to 29.61 million units, signalling broader challenges in the Chinese smartphone market.
