Apple has surpassed vivo to become the #1 brand in China in terms of market share. The last time the company achieved this was six years ago when the iPhone 6 was selling at its peak. An impressive QoQ growth rate of 79% was recorded in Q4 2021 while YoY growth stood at 32%.
However, China’s overall smartphone sales declined 2% QoQ and 9% YoY in Q4 2021 (via Counterpoint). The reasons for this are a couple — ongoing shortages and the fact that China’s average smartphone replacement cycle is becoming longer. The latter is due to smartphone designs within brands becoming more homogeneous, which has reduced the consumer incentive to upgrade.
Commenting on Apple’s performance, Research Analyst Mengmeng Zhang said, “Apple’s stellar performance was driven by a mix of its pricing strategy and gain from Huawei’s premium base. Apple rose to first place in China right after the iPhone 13 was released (week 39) in September.”
“Afterwards, it remained in the leading position for most of the fourth quarter. The new iPhone 13 has led the success due to a relatively lower starting price at its release in China, as well as the new camera and 5G features. Furthermore, Huawei, Apple’s main competitor in the premium market, faced declining sales due to the ongoing US sanctions,” he added.
vivo and OPPO took the second and third spots respectively, driven by their strong offline penetration and expansive product portfolio strategy. Most of the former’s gains were driven by the X70 series and S series, while for OPPO, it was the Reno7 series that did the job.
HONOR’s performance has been especially impressive, with the company reaching a YoY growth rate of 50% in Q4 2021 to grab the fourth spot.
Xiaomi was especially hurt by component shortages. This, paired with slower penetration in offline channels, led it to fifth place in the Chinese smartphone market.
2021 also proved to be quite a milestone in terms of Chinese companies and their progression with advanced technology. OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi launched self-developed chips to showcase their investments in semiconductors. Foldable smartphones were launched for the first time by OPPO and HONOR, and more OEMs will likely be joining.
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