Sales of foreign-branded mobile phones in China, including U.S. tech giant Apple (AAPL), have dialed down.
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Shipments Fall
According to new figures from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), demand for overseas phones dropped 9.7% year-on-year in May.
Calculations based on the data showed that May shipments of foreign-branded phones in China fell to 4.54 million handsets from the same month last year.
Even though the CAICT doesn’t break down its figures by brand, Apple is the largest foreign mobile phone maker in China’s smartphone-dominated market.
Apple has faced increased competition from domestic rivals and has cut prices to stay competitive. Chinese e-commerce platforms offered discounts of up to 2,530 yuan (351) on Apple’s latest iPhone 16 models in May.
High Huawei
However, on a brighter note for Apple, data from another source – Counterpoint Research – revealed that in the second quarter between April 1 and June 22, iPhone sales increased 8% year-over-year.
This was the first time since the second quarter of 2023 that Apple has seen growth in China. But Chinese rival Huawei saw sales climb 12% during the same period.
“Apple’s adjustment of iPhone prices in May was well timed and well received, coming a week ahead of the 618 shopping festival,” Ethan Qi, associate director at Counterpoint Research, said in a statement.
Ivan Lam, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, added: “Huawei is still riding high on the loyalty of its core users as they replace their old phones with new Huawei releases.”
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