China: iPhone again the best-selling smartphone
The previously difficult market in the People's Republic is no longer a problem for Apple – at least in terms of smartphone market share.
An Apple store in China.
(Image: Apple)
Apple's problems in the Chinese market with the iPhone are apparently a thing of the past: After it had already become apparent after the release of the iPhone 17 in September that pre-orders were running excellently, the first valid figures for the fourth quarter of 2025 are now available. As usual, they do not come from Apple itself, as the company has not provided sales figures for years. Instead, they come from market researcher Counterpoint, which is usually considered reliable. According to the information, Apple was able to grow in a difficult overall market and, with the iPhone, is the leading smartphone in the People's Republic.
Great interest in the iPhone 17
Overall, the Chinese smartphone market shrank by 1.6 percent. But this did not affect Apple: the company grew with the iPhone by a full 28 percent compared to the previous year's quarter. The iPhone 17 has developed strong traction, according to Counterpoint. Apple's market share is now 21.8 percent. Oppo came in second with 15.8 percent, followed by Vivo (15.7 percent), Huawei (14.6 percent), Xioami (13.7 percent) and Honor (13.4 percent). The Other segment, which also includes Samsung, which now plays hardly any role in smartphones in China, reached 5 percent.
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However, Apple did not manage to be the Chinese market leader on an annual basis – albeit by a narrow margin. With the iPhone, the company ranked second with 16.7 percent, while Huawei (16.9 percent) was number one, which is also popular for patriotic reasons. In terms of model distribution, Apple won primarily with the standard model and the Pro variants.
iPhone Air and the Trump question
The iPhone Air performed as expected worse. “The delayed market launch and the compromises between slimness and functionality led to a slow start,” said Counterpoint Senior Analyst Ivan Lam. Nevertheless, it is “a significant product, not only as an exploration of ultra-thin design but also in terms of the longer-term structural impact on the domestic smartphone market with eSIM.” For the first time in China, the company offered a pure eSIM model with the Air, which cost it a lot of persuasion work with local mobile operators.
As early as last summer, it became apparent that Apple was slowly overcoming its Chinese crisis with the iPhone. At the beginning of 2025, Apple had fallen to third place in the market ranking. In terms of politics, things are currently quite calm between the USA and China, after the first phase of the second Trump administration was marked by many conflicts. However, it is unclear whether this will remain the case.
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