By Liam Mo and Brenda Goh
BEIJING (Reuters) – Apple’s smartphone shipments in China fell 19% in the first quarter of the year, the worst performance since 2020, as the premium segment’s dominance comes under pressure from new product launches from Huawei, according to market data.
Apple’s market share in the world’s largest smartphone market fell to 15.7% in the first quarter, from 19.7% a year earlier. That puts it almost on par with Huawei, whose sales jumped 70%, according to research firm Counterpoint.
Apple lost its crown as China’s biggest smartphone seller to local rival Vivo, slipping to third place during the quarter, followed by Huawei whose market share jumped to 15.5% from 9.3 % one year earlier. Its local rival Honor is in second place.
Huawei launched its premium Pura 70 series of phones last week following the launch of the Mate 60 series in August. The Mate 60 has been seen as a return of the Chinese company to the high-end market and described as a triumph in the face of US sanctions against the company, as the handsets contain an advanced chip made in China.
(Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; editing by Kirsten Donovan)