Chinese market: iPhone apparently growing again
Once the market leader, then fell behind the local providers: Apple's iPhone was also a hit in China. Now the company could grow again.
Apple store in China: Important sales and manufacturing market.
(Image: THINK A/Shutterstock.com)
Apple's China business with the iPhone, which has been shrinking in recent quarters, appears to be slowly recovering. This is evident from the latest market research figures from Counterpoint Research for the second quarter. According to the figures, Apple was able to record strong growth in a "subdued market" compared to the same quarter of the previous year. This was due to strong sales of the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max.
Huawei and Apple in the lead, Vivo loses
iPhone growth in China is in the "high single-digit percentage range" according to Counterpoint, whose figures are, as usual, based on its market surveys and not on official manufacturer figures. Apple's sell-through share, i.e. the sales rate, increased by 8 percent, while the overall market only grew by 1 percent compared to the same period last year. However, the domestic manufacturer Huawei managed to grow even faster – by 12 percent.
The company thus achieved market leadership in the quarter. In contrast, other brands shrank, with the traditionally strong Vivo falling by 9 percent. The other brands, a large segment in China, also lost a slight 1%. Apple reduced its prices in China in May and ran promotional campaigns –, particularly for the 16, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max models. This was "well timed". This was followed by the so-called 618 Shopping Festival, a day similar to Black Friday. Huawei and Apple also scored well here, with Apple achieving the best sales with three iPhone variants and taking the top half of the bestseller list, according to Counterpoint research.
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Difficult political situation
Subsidies were also distributed in China to boost the smartphone market. The government is primarily promoting the purchase of domestic brands, although Apple continues to produce the most iPhones in the People's Republic. According to Counterpoint, government sales subsidies were a feature of the second quarter, but are not to be continued in the second half of the year.
Apple has a difficult time in China. The country is struggling with the political situation, in which the government is also advising against US brands due to the current trade war, while at the same time wanting to become less dependent on China as a production location. However, this is also causing annoyance in Beijing; most recently, Chinese employees who are helping with Apple's major expansion of Indian production plants were apparently withdrawn again under pressure from China.
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