After its annual shipments in China dropped 17 %, research firm Canalys revealed on Thursday ( Jan 16 ), Apple was deposed as the country’s top smartphone seller in 2024, with local rivals Vivo and Huawei edging ahead of the company.
It was Apple’s largest-ever quarterly sales collapse in China and included contraction in all four quarters, including a 25 per share cut in the last quarter, according to the data.
Vivo, a budget smartphone manufacturer, held a 17 % market share for the entire year in China, followed by premium rival Huawei with 16 % and Apple with 15 %, demonstrating the growing sales pressure it is facing from domestic manufacturers in one of its biggest global markets.
The drop also highlights how factors like the lack of artificial intelligence capabilities in the most recent iPhones sold in China, where ChatGPT is not accessible, are affecting Apple’s competitiveness.
” This marks Apple’s worst annual performance in China”, Canalys analyst Toby Zhu said.
” Apple’s premium market position faces multiple problems: Huawei’s continuous flagship discharges, the proliferation of domestic foldable devices in high-price parts, and Android companies like Xiaomi and Vivo building customer loyalty through technological innovations”, he said.
Following US restrictions that placed Huawei on a list of entities in 2019, which limited Apple’s access to American technologies, the company had previously experienced four years of steady growth.
However, Huawei has successfully returned to the prime market since August 2023, when it introduced new smartphones with locally produced chipsets. The Taiwanese company reported a 24 percent increase in shipping in the fourth quarter.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment right away.