On January 26, market research agency Counterpoint Research announced its report on smartphone sales in mainland China for the fourth quarter of 2023.
According to the report, in the fourth quarter of 2023, China's smartphone sales increased by 6.6% year-on-year, the first quarterly increase in more than two years. Apple occupies the top spot, followed by Xiaomi and Huawei, which grew by a massive 71.1% in Q3 and Q4, driven by its 5G chips, and Xiaomi and Honor also maintained strong growth.
(Source: Counterpoint Research, the chart above shows the market share in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 2023)
Although Apple occupies the top spot, compared with the previous year, there is still a lot of decline, probably because the 15 series is not performing well, Chinese consumers do not pay, on the other hand, Apple is also facing pressure from Huawei and Xiaomi. Although Apple has almost monopolized all the high-end market share left by Huawei during this period of Huawei's silence, but now that Huawei has returned with the Kirin, the Mate60 series has gradually become spot-on, and it is expected to continue to increase its market share in 2024.
Xiaomi relies on the Xiaomi 14 series to hold high the banner of entering the high-end market, according to the Xiaomi war report, Xiaomi 14 first sale 4 hours, it broke the "Tmall, Jingdong, Douyin, Kuaishou" four major platforms in the past year, all domestic mobile phones "first sales all-day sales and sales" record. Moreover, the sales volume of the Xiaomi 14 series within 5 minutes of sales is 6 times the total sales of the Xiaomi 13 series, achieving leapfrog growth. It is not surprising that Xiaomi has achieved a market share growth of nearly 4% compared to the same period last year.
(Source: Xiaomi)
And throughout 2023, Apple ranks first with a share of 17.9%, followed by vivo (16.9%) and OPPO (16.2%).
(Source: Counterpoint Research, the above chart shows the market share for the whole year of 2022 and 2023)
Compared with the decline in sales in the fourth quarter, Apple has not been affected much in terms of sales throughout the year, probably because the sales of the iPhone 14 series were strong in the first half of the year, while OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi and other manufacturers in the same period not only did not grow, but declined, and this decline only improved slightly in the second half of the year.
In the face of economic recovery and competition from domestic mobile phone brands, Apple implemented a price reduction strategy in January 2024. However, according to the sales data of major e-commerce platforms, the effect of this measure does not seem to be satisfactory. At the same time, domestic mobile phone manufacturers with Android systems are also stepping up their actions, with Xiaomi's 14 series still selling strongly, Huawei's Mate 40 series starting spot sales, and OPPO and Honor also launching their respective annual flagship products in the first quarter of 2024.
(Source: Apple)
In the competition of China's mobile phone brand market, the share of the leading manufacturers has returned to a relatively balanced state, indicating that the competition may be more stalemate and fierce in the future. This is a good thing for consumers, as this competition means that manufacturers will have more incentive to launch features that are more competitive, rather than just squeezing toothpaste with annual updates.