China's top five smartphone brands have a market share of more than 80%, Huawei accounts for 18.1%, ranking second, and Apple falls to sixth

Huawei Authorized Experience Store. Photo by Yangtze River Business Daily reporter Wu Wei

Yangtze River Business Daily News ● Yangtze River Business Daily reporter Huang Cong

Huawei's smartphone, which has made a strong comeback, has opened up the "far ahead" again.

Recently, the latest mobile phone quarterly tracking report released by IDC (International Data Corporation) shows that in the second quarter of 2024, China's smartphone market will ship about 71.58 million units, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%, continuing the growth momentum.

Among them, vivo, Huawei, OPPO, Honor and Xiaomi have market shares of 18.5%, 18.1%, 15.7%, 14.5% and 14% respectively, totaling 80.8%.

In the first half of 2024, Huawei ranked first in China's smartphone market in terms of shipments with a market share of 17.5%, winning the "half-way champion".

According to a report by Canalys, a market research institution, in the second quarter of 2024, Apple's shipment ranking will retreat to sixth, with a year-on-year decline of 2% in market share, accounting for 14%.

Some analysts said that in the first half of 2024, China's smartphone market performed higher than expected, and the rebound momentum was good; However, we cannot be blindly optimistic about the market development in the second half of the year and next year.

Vivo had the largest market share in the second quarter

Huawei mobile phones are back strongly, and Apple has fallen out of the top five.

On July 26, reports on China's smartphone market in the second quarter were released one after another. As usual, there are big differences in the statistical caliber and rankings of Canalys, IDC and others, but at least they reflect some common trends.

According to the latest mobile phone quarterly tracking report released by IDC, in the second quarter of 2024, China's smartphone market shipped about 71.58 million units, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%, continuing the growth momentum.

According to the data, in the second quarter of 2024, vivo topped the Chinese smartphone market in terms of shipments with a market share of 18.5%, with a year-on-year increase of 17.1%.

Huawei, on the other hand, ranked second in the second quarter with a market share of 18.1% in the second quarter, up more than 50% year-on-year and up 5 percentage points from 13.1% in the same period last year.

OPPO continues to rank among the top three in the market with a market share of 15.7%, while Honor and Xiaomi rank fourth and fifth, respectively, with market shares of 14.5% and 14%, respectively.

Overall, in the second quarter, the combined market share of China's top five smartphone manufacturers reached 80.8%.

However, in the first half of 2024, Huawei ranked first in China's smartphone market shipments with a market share of 17.5%.

Since its return to the motherland at the end of August 2023, Huawei's share of China's smartphone market has recovered rapidly, with a year-on-year increase of more than 100% in the first quarter of 2024.

IDC pointed out in a related report in the first quarter of 2024 that its Mate 60 series continues to be in short supply, and the nova 12 series accounted for one-third of Huawei's shipments in the first quarter.

IDC pointed out that although external restrictions continue to tighten, Huawei's supply capacity continues to improve, and the gap with Apple continues to narrow in the market above 4,000 yuan.

Apple cut prices to grab the market

According to the relevant data released by IDC, in 2023, the top five shipments in China's smartphone market will be Apple, Honor, OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi, while Huawei is not among the top five.

Not only that, Apple will sell more than 234 million smartphones in 2023, accounting for 20.1% of the global market.

According to a report by Canalys, a market research institution, in the second quarter of 2024, Apple's shipment ranking will retreat to sixth, with a year-on-year decline of 2% in market share, accounting for 14%.

Zhong Xiaolei, research analyst at Canalys, said: "Domestic manufacturers have shown market leadership, and for the first time in history, the top five rankings in the Chinese mainland smartphone market are occupied by domestic brands. Apple is under pressure to grow in the Chinese market and is actively focused on optimizing channel management. ”

In order to boost sales, Apple has increased discounts in the Chinese market this year to attract consumers. In a promotional campaign launched in May this year, the price reduction of Apple's mobile phone reached twice that of the promotion in February this year, and the price reduction of some iPhone models even reached 2,300 yuan.

Some analysts said that Apple's price cut is a strategy it has adopted to stimulate consumption and regain market share. At present, the domestic consumer market is picking up, but consumers are more rational, so Apple needs moderate promotional price reductions to stimulate consumption.

Huawei, which has returned to the first-tier mobile phone market, has begun to feel the pressure.

On July 18, Huawei announced that the Pura 70 series would be reduced by 500-1000 yuan for a limited time. Historically, there have been few official price cuts for Huawei phones, and it is equally rare for high-end flagship series to be reduced within three months of being launched.

Some dealers believe that in the overall downturn of the market, the overall pricing of the Huawei Pura series is higher than market expectations.

Not only that, but Xiaomi is also one of the most noteworthy variables.

In the past few years, Xiaomi has often disappeared from the top five smartphone markets in China, but has become stronger in overseas markets. However, with the success of the Xiaomi 14's high-end strategy and the K70's effective marketing strategy, coupled with Xiaomi's first car SU7 to help increase brand exposure, the company had to let its peers start to pay more attention.

Huawei's folding screen mobile phone sales ranked first

In the folding screen mobile phone market, Huawei is the undisputed hegemon.

Data shows that in the second quarter of 2024, China's folding screen mobile phone market maintained a triple-digit year-on-year growth rate, with shipments reaching 2.57 million units.

IDC predicts that with the release of a new generation of folding screen products from more manufacturers, as well as the increase in new folding screen product lines from manufacturers such as Honor and Xiaomi, China's folding screen mobile phone market will still grow rapidly in the second half of the year, and the development situation will be better than that of the global folding screen mobile phone market.

IDC data shows that in the second quarter of 2024, Huawei will continue to rank first in China's folding screen mobile phone market share with a market share of 41.7%. vivo rose to second place, with a share of 23.1%; Honor ranked third, with a share of 20.9%, and the vertical discount market ranked second; OPPO has a market share of 8.4%, ranking fourth, of which it ranks third in the vertical fold market share; Samsung ranked fifth, with a 3.0% market share.

In the first quarter of 2024, the Mate X5 and the new Pocket 2 helped Huawei secure the largest market share of folding screen phones in China, reaching 44.1%.

Recently, it was reported that Huawei is about to launch a new small folding screen mobile phone, and it will be the nova series.

However, it has been more than 5 years since the folding screen mobile phone was commercialized, and the annual shipment volume of the Chinese market is still less than 10 million units, compared with the overall shipment of 270 million to 280 million units in the Chinese mobile phone market throughout the year, the penetration rate is still low.

For mobile phone manufacturers, if the folding screen mobile phone products do not sell well, they will face the situation of "losing money and making money".

Taking small folding screen mobile phones as an example, in June, Honor CEO Zhao Ming bluntly said in an interview with the media that the shipment of small folding screen mobile phones must reach more than one million units to achieve breakeven.

Canalys believes that folding screen mobile phones have long-term market prospects, and in 2025, global folding screen mobile phone shipments will reach 55 million units; In 2027, global shipments of folding screen mobile phones will exceed 100 million units.

For the entire mobile phone industry, Guo Tianxiang, research manager of IDC China, said that in the first half of 2024, China's smartphone market performed higher than expected, and the rebound momentum was good; However, we cannot be blindly optimistic about the market development in the second half of the year and next year.

In Guo Tianxiang's view, the economic environment is sluggish and consumer confidence is still insufficient, and the beginning of the recovery of the market in the second half of 2023 will increase year-on-year shipments, which means that compared with the first half of the year, it is difficult for the market to rebound more in the second half of 2024.