The Chinese smartphone market has now turned out to be extremely competitive for foreign brands such as Apple and Samsung, especially in the face of the dominance Huawei exerts on consumers’ minds. According to new data, the sales for international brands have significantly declined as the shipments had been severely decreasing during the past months. Thus, this new preference of domestic brands is posing challenges for the survival of international brands.
A market once full of promise for Apple is now proving tricky to tread. While the iPhone enjoys widespread recognition, local technology brands are garnering increasing support. Shipments of foreign smartphones in China plummeted to 3.04 million units in November, down a staggering 47.4% from last year, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. That is the fourth consecutive month that shipments have fallen, after an October drop of 44.25%. Apple and Samsung join the list of companies in this trend, though the study did not mention them at all.
Domestic brands, on the other hand, are highly rising. In November, total shipments of smartphones within the Chinese borders, with branded imports, decreased by 5.1% to 29.61 million units. But even in such a bleak trend, homegrown brands like Huawei are gaining more market shares and stealing consumer love from foreign competitors.
It still found some solace in what IDC said as it placed the firm second on the popularity charts for smartphones in Q3 2024 with market share reaching 15.6%. It is 0.3% less year-over-year. The new iPhone 16 series has been doing well since they grew 20% within the first three weeks compared to what the iPhone 15 had experienced.
Still, overall decline in sales of foreign-branded smartphones will still be a challenging task for Apple and other international brands. International brands will have to shift gears and come up with new strategies so that they can maintain relevance in this market that has now become competitive, especially since it’s dominated by well-established local brands.
