From Investing.com:

Apple’s iPhone sales in China fell by 30% in the first week of 2024, highlighting growing competition from domestic rivals like Huawei. This decline drove an overall drop in China smartphone shipments for the period. Despite aggressive discounts on iPhone models, Apple’s sales declined, with analysts attributing this to competitive pressure from Huawei.

While Apple’s sales had a 3% drop in China in all of 2023, its third-largest market, the 30% decrease in the first week of 2024 marks an acceleration. This suggests growing competitive pressures. Huawei, in particular, has been cited as the major source of this competition, especially with the launch of its Mate 60 series of phones in August 2023.

The Mate 60 series is seen as Huawei’s return to the high-end smartphone market, gaining them about 6% share in the Chinese smartphone market for the final quarter of 2023. Analysts expect Apple to face more competitive pressure from domestic rivals in 2024, with Apple’s shipment volumes continuing to decline by double digits while Huawei gains market share.

The forecast for Huawei’s shipment volumes in 2024 is approximately 64 million smartphones, a significant increase from an estimated less than 35 million in 2023. This comes after years of U.S. sanctions that had hindered Huawei’s progress, suggesting a strong comeback for the company in the smartphone market. The Chinese smartphone market is expected to rebound in 2024, with IDC predicting year-on-year sales growth in the fourth quarter after ten consecutive quarters of falling shipments.



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