Despite China smartphone market contraction, Apple is still expanding
Evan SelleckiPhone 14 Pro Max
As smartphone markets all across the globe wither away, China saw only two manufacturers pick up any new growth so far in 2023 — and Apple is one of them.
The global smartphone market continues to contract even as 2023 ticks on, but Apple has managed to keep things relatively positive. Folks switching away from Android and opting for Apple's devices seem to be helping with that.
And China has not been able to miss the pressure, either, based on data from Counterpoint Research. Within its most recent "618 Sales Period Thematic Report," the analysts show that China saw its smartphone sales decline 8% year-over-year.
As far as growth is concerned, only two companies have seen any so far: Apple and Huawei. Counterpoint says Apple continues to excel in the premium market, and has avoided any major headwinds up to this point, or competition for that matter.
Apple saw an 8 percent year-over-year increase according to the data, while Huawei saw a massive leap up to 52% year-over-year.
Apple held just 15.2% of the Chinese smartphone market in 2022, but has jumped up to 17.9% according to the latest data. And despite Huawei turning things around from 6.5 percent in 2022 to 10.8% in 2023, it's still the smallest manufacturer tracked by the report.
Vivo fell 13% from 19.3% to 18.2%, Honor dropped a whopping 22% from 18.3% to 15.4%, Xiaomi slipped 14% year-over-year from 16.5% to 15.4%, and finally Oppo saw the biggest decline year-over-year with 24%, down to 13.8% from 16.8%.
Interestingly, the smartphone market saw a bit of a bump in the June record, up 30 percent compared to the pervious 18 days that Counterpoint tracked. According to the analysts, this is due to price cuts put in place by many manufacturers, especially by Xiaomi.
Despite the tension on the smartphone market right now all across the globe, Apple seems unfazed. In fact, if rumors pan out regarding the iPhone 15 Pro Max this year, it may be even more expensive than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The information was put together with data collected between June 1 and June 18, 2023.
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24 Comments
One critical reason the global smartphone market is shrinking is Chinese manufacturers are not able to produce more of them. There are several reasons. You can provide one of yours. :)