China: Apple sales decrease while Huawei and Xiaomi register increases

Manzana recorded a decline in the number of smartphones sold during the recent Singles’ Day shopping festival in Chinaaccording to data from Counterpoint Research, behind its local rivals Huawei and Xiaomi, which registered strong increases.

The number of Apple smartphones sold decreased by 4% year-on-year during the two sales weeks, Oct. 30 to Nov. 12, the research consultancy said Thursday. In comparison, the number of units sold by Huawei and Xiaomi grew by 66% and a 28% year-on-year, respectively, during the same period.

Rising Huawei and Xiaomi sales helped drive a year-on-year increase in 5% in the total number of Chinese smartphones sold during the promotion period, it said.

The price of Apple’s latest iPhone 15 model starts at 5,999 yuan (US$832), while Huawei’s Mate 60 smartphones start at 5,499 yuan (US$763). Xiaomi’s latest Mi 14 costs 3,999 yuan (US$555).

Huawei and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com did not publish sales figures for the Singles’ Day festival, having abandoned the practice last year, although JD.com said the value of transaction volume for singles’ Apple surpassed 10 billion yuan ($1.39 billion) on its platform during the period.

A Xiaomi spokesperson said the company achieved a cumulative gross merchandise value of more than 22.4 billion yuan during the bidding period.

Analysts have said the Chinese smartphone market is poised to rebound, and research firm IDC has said it expects sales to grow year-on-year in the fourth quarter after ten consecutive quarters of declining shipments.

Competition between smartphone models intensified ahead of the annual event, with major Chinese e-commerce platforms offering significant discounts on Apple iPhones during the sales period.

Apple launched its iPhone 15 series in late September, about a month after Huawei launched the Mate 60 line of smartphones powered by an advanced chip independently developed by Huawei.

The Mate 60 series has received significant patriotic support in China, with supporters saying it shows how Huawei has managed to overcome years of US export controls that initially crippled its smartphone business.

Xiaomi launched the Mi 14 series of smartphones at the end of October, and its CEO Lei Jun revealed that sales of the new line had surpassed one million units upon launch.

In addition to facing competition from domestic rivals, Counterpoint analysts attributed Apple’s weak results to supply chain issues that have limited the availability of its new iPhone 15 models.

“Apple is improving compared to last month, but there still seem to be hiccups in terms of supply,” said Ivan Lam, senior manufacturing analyst at Counterpoint, adding that he hopes the situation will normalize soon.