While China’s overall smartphone market saw a 4% decline in sales over the nine weeks from January to early March, Apple registered a 23% spike, according to a new Counterpoint Research report. Here are the details.
iPhone sales surge in China as competition increases prices
According to the report (via Reuters), the rising costs of memory chips led Android manufacturers to raise prices to the point that not even government subsidies were able to curb the decline in smartphone sales.
Apple, on the other hand, leaned on e-commerce discounts and benefited from the same government subsidies that failed to offset Android’s downturn, as the base iPhone 17 remained eligible thanks to stable pricing.
According to Counterpoint, Apple’s longer-term deals with suppliers left it less exposed to price increases, “absorbing part of the margin pressure and using the situation to potentially expand its market share.”
This lines up with Apple’s own remarks during the company’s latest earnings conference call, where CEO Tim Cook and CFO Kevan Parekh expressed confidence in the company’s ability to navigate the situation in the short term, while not ruling out future price increases if conditions persist.
As for its competition on the Android side, local Chinese manufacturers such as OPPO and vivo have announced price increases for select devices, while Huawei seems better prepared to handle component shortages due to its “reliance on domestic suppliers.”
Finally, the report says the situation is unlikely to improve in the coming months, with only “some relief” expected in June during the country’s midyear shopping festival, which typically brings steep discounts.
To read Reuters’ full report, follow this link.
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