STORY: Apple’s iPhone sales in China slipped 0.3% in the third quarter.
While rival Huawei posted a 42% sales surge.
That’s as competition intensifies in the world’s largest smartphone market.
Vivo, which primarily sells budget phones, was the top vendor.
Apple came in second with 15.6% of the market share, while Huawei came in third, fractionally behind on market share.
The contrast in sales performance follows Huawei’s comeback last year in the premium segment with its Mate 60 series.
It features what analysts said is a breakthrough domestically produced chip, using advanced technology.
And earlier in the year, the firm challenged Apple’s position with its Pura 70 model.
Apple has faced additional headwinds in China, including restrictions on iPhone use by some government agencies.
The U.S. tech giant responded with multiple discount campaigns to boost sales.
The third-quarter performance was partly helped by the new iPhone 16, which went on sale last month.
On the same day, Huawei launched a competing product – a tri-foldable phone.
This ongoing sales battle comes at a time when China’s domestic products are booming in some industries.
Like electric vehicles, which can be made cheaply, and are providing fierce competition for European and U.S. rivals.
But the newest iPhones got off to a strong start in China, with sales 20% higher in the first three weeks since launch compared with the 2023 models …
… showing the competition certainly isn’t a foregone conclusion.
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