Apple Falls to Third Place in China's Smartphone Market Amid Sales Decline
Apple has experienced a significant decline in iPhone sales in China, dropping from the leading position to third place in the country's smartphone market during the fourth quarter of 2024.
According to a new report from Counterpoint Research, iPhone shipments in China fell by 18.2% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2024. This decline resulted in a 17.1% market share for the company, placing it behind Huawei and Xiaomi, which captured 18.1% and 17.2% of the market, respectively. The fall comes just a year after Apple held the top position in the market with a 19% share. This is apparently the first time since the U.S. ban on Huawei that Apple has been displaced by its Chinese competitor.
Apple's reduced performance in China has been attributed to several factors, including heightened competition from domestic brands and its inability to bring Apple Intelligence to the region. While Apple Intelligence was introduced alongside the iPhone 16 lineup in September 2024 in the United States, it has not been made available in China due to regulatory constraints. The company is believed to be partnering with Chinese companies to deliver the features at a later date. Huawei's strong growth in the fourth quarter—up 15.5% year-on-year—has been largely credited to AI features in its flagship Mate 70 devices and the mid-range Nova 13 series.
It is also of note that China's smartphone market experienced a 3.2% year-on-year decline in the fourth quarter of 2024, marking the only quarter of the year with negative growth. Despite these obstacles, Apple maintained its position as the third-largest smartphone brand in China for the quarter, and its sales were closely matched with Xiaomi, which recorded a 17.2% market share.
Popular Stories
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple regularly refreshes the MacBook Pro models, and a new version that uses M5 series chips is in the works. Apple just finished refreshing most of the Mac lineup with M4 chips, and now it's time for the M5. Rumors suggest that we could see the first M5 MacBook Pro models this fall.
Design
There have been no rumors of a design update for the M5 MacBook Pro models that are coming this...
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site.
The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out.
That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook.
Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing.
Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1.
Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
Update 7:25 pm: Based on comments from our forums, it appears the original Weibo post may have been mistranslated and "8K" actually refers to the high price of the device rather than 8K video recording capabilities. The iPhone 16 Pro currently starts at 7,999 yuan in China.
Our original article follows below.
Apple's forthcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are capable of shooting 8K video, up...
Last week, we covered a report claiming that Apple's book-style foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold," as we are provisionally calling it here) will use liquid metal hinges to improve durability and help minimize screen creasing. Today, a Chinese leaker provided more details on the properties of this hinge material that help to clarify why Apple chose it for its first foldable device.
According...
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone adds an Ambient Music feature to Control Center. Below, we take a closer look at how it works.
iOS 18.4 is currently in beta, so the Ambient Music feature is not widely available yet. The update will likely be released to the general public next week.
To use the feature on iOS 18.4, open Control Center and tap on the plus sign in the top-left...
The iOS 19 mockup images that leaker Jon Prosser shared today are not representative of the actual iOS 19 design, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on social media.
According to Gurman, the images that are "floating around" are based on "very old builds" or "vague descriptions," and are lacking key features. Gurman says that we can "expect more from Apple in June."
Gurman made the same comment ...
