Apple's fortunes in China may be getting worse in the short term, with iPhone shipments for the second quarter reportedly down year-on-year as local rivals increase competition.
Apple's Head of Retail, Deirdre O'Brien, in Apple Sanlitun, Beijing
Apple has slowly been changing its fortunes in China, with some observers seeing signs of a recovery in the region. However, not everything is going Apple's way in the contested market.
According to analysis from Canalys, Apple is seeing more competition in China, and its shipments are being hurt by it. In data shared with Reuters, Apple's smartphone shipments are claimed to have dropped 6.7% in the second quarter of 2024, versus Q2 2023.
Shipments for the quarter ending June had reached 9.7 million units. By contrast, the Q2 2023 figures had Apple shipments at 10.4 million.
Furthermore, Apple's market share in China also dropped, from 16% one year ago to 14%. This put Apple from third to sixth place in terms of smartphone shipments in China for the quarter, narrowly behind Xiaomi with 10 million shipments and a 14% share.
The drop in Apple's market share is only partly down to its reduced shipments. Overall, the China smartphone market saw a 10% year-on-year increase in shipments, with local rivals including Vivo, Oppo, Honor, and Huawei benefiting from increased sales.
The increased shipments and loss of market share has been seen elsewhere. One July 15 report pointed out that Apple's global market share for Q2 went from 16.6% in Q2 2023 to 15.8% in Q2 2024.
Meanwhile, Chinese firms saw similar rises globally. Xiaomi rose form 12.4% to 14.8%m while Vivo managed to go from 7.9% to 9.1%.
While Chinese vendors are benefiting from localized supply chains, Apple is apparently facing a bottleneck in mainland China. "The vendor's current channel strategy maintains a healthy inventory level and aims to stabilize retail prices and protect margins of channel partners," said Canalys analyst Lucas Zhong.
However, Apple does have the potential to bounce back in the coming year. Zhong adds that localizing Apple Intelligence services for China will be a crucial task to complete within the next 12 months.
And, some of this is seasonal. The second quarter is distant from Apple's fall releases.