Apple’s struggles in China continue, according to new data from research firm Canalys. This data indicates that not only did Apple fall out of first place in China for smartphone shipments in Q1 2024, it fell all the way to fifth place.
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According to Canalys, Apple saw its shipments in China hit 10 million units in Q1 2024, a decrease of 25% year-over-year. This gives Apple a 15% share of the Chinese smartphone market, down from the 20% share it held at the same time last year.
Top comment by Fats
It’s actually quite amazing that Apple sells anything in China. They steal IP, they flood markets with cheap products, they misinform citizens where products are invented, they regulate and ban other countries’ products. They are mad at the US for … our support of Taiwan, proposed ban of TikTok, ban of US super chips, our efforts to migrate production out of China, etc. India will be the largest market in the future. China will face a population collapse in the next couple of decade - and they will lose their power along with it.
Here’s the full breakdown of shipments and annual growth in China for smartphone makers in Q1:
| Vendor | Q1 2024 shipments (million) | Q1 2024 market share | Q1 2023 shipments (million) | Q1 2023 market share | Annual growth |
| Huawei | 11.7 | 17% | 6.8 | 10% | 70% |
| OPPO | 10.9 | 16% | 12.6 | 19% | -14% |
| HONOR | 10.6 | 16% | 9.7 | 14% | 9% |
| vivo | 10.3 | 15% | 11.3 | 17% | -9% |
| Apple | 10.0 | 15% | 13.3 | 20% | -25% |
| Others | 14.2 | 21% | 13.8 | 20% | 3% |
| Total | 67.7 | 100% | 67.6 | 100% | 0% |
As you can see, Huawei came ahead as a clear winner for the quarter and posted 70% growth year-over-year. Canalys research analyst Lucas Zhong says this can be attributed in part to Apple being caught flat-footed by generative AI:
“The Gen AI-capable smartphone presents important opportunities for Chinese vendors to differentiate in the high-end in 2024 to challenge Apple in their home market. Canalys forecasts Gen AI-capable smartphones will reach 12% of shipments in 2024 in mainland China, ahead of the global average of 9%. Vendors are actively engaging consumers by developing interesting AI use cases and integrating AI features into their latest flagship launches with large marketing spends to educate consumers.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook made a trip to China last month, visiting Apple stores, supply chain partners, government officials, and more. Last week, Apple was forced to remove key apps such as Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp, and Threads from the App Store in China at the behest of a government order.
The full Canalys report can be found on its website.
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