2024 China Smartphone Market Annual Review: vivo Takes the Crown, Huawei in Hot Pursuit, Apple Faces Challenges

2024 China Smartphone Market Annual Review: vivo Takes the Crown, Huawei in Hot Pursuit, Apple Faces ChallengesAs 2024 draws to a close, with the Lunar New Year approaching, the full-year data for China's smartphone market is becoming clearer. Recently released December and full-year market share data paint a new picture of the competitive landscape

2024 China Smartphone Market Annual Review: vivo Takes the Crown, Huawei in Hot Pursuit, Apple Faces Challenges

As 2024 draws to a close, with the Lunar New Year approaching, the full-year data for China's smartphone market is becoming clearer. Recently released December and full-year market share data paint a new picture of the competitive landscape. The market performance and strategic moves of major brands have become a focal point of industry attention. This article provides a detailed review of the 2024 Chinese smartphone market, deeply analyzing the differences in market performance among major manufacturers.

2024 Full-Year Market Share: vivo Leads, Huawei Close Behind

The Chinese smartphone market experienced an approximate 1.5% year-on-year growth in 2024 compared to 2023, indicating significant potential for development. In the fierce market competition, vivo secured the top spot with a 17.40% market share (including iQOO's 4.70%), claiming the 2024 championship. This success wasn't accidental. The continued strong sales of the vivo X100 and X200 series, along with several powerful models in the S and iQOO series, laid a solid foundation. Simultaneously, optimizations to the OriginOS system gained high user recognition, improving user satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Huawei came in second with a 16.13% market share, closely trailing vivo. The continued strong sales of flagship products like the Mate60 series, Pura70 series, and Mate70 series solidified Huawei's position in the high-end market and boosted mid-range sales. More notably, Huawei is actively expanding into the low-to-mid-range market, with significant upgrades planned for its Enjoy and Nova series, promising positive future growth momentum. Kirin processors, the native HarmonyOS, and the inclusion of some flagship features in lower-tier models further enhanced user experience and competitiveness.

Xiaomi ranked third with a 15.87% market share, becoming one of the best-performing domestic smartphone manufacturers besides Huawei. The excellent performance of the numbered series and Redmi K series, along with continuous optimization of the Pengpai OS, contributed to Xiaomi's market share growth.

Apple and Honor secured fourth and fifth place with 14.83% and 14.77% market share, respectively. While Apple maintained a considerable share, it faces challenges related to declining product competitiveness and market saturation. Honor, through adjusted market strategies and enhanced product innovation, maintained stable market share growth but still faces considerable pressure.

OPPO ranked sixth with a 13.67% market share (including OnePlus' 1.60%). Realme, Huawei Smart Selection, and Samsung also demonstrated competitiveness in their respective niche markets.

December 2024 Market Share: Huawei's Comeback, Apple's Decline

In December 2024, the overall Chinese smartphone market declined by approximately 7% compared to November, reflecting seasonal fluctuations and extended consumer upgrade cycles. However, Huawei, with the strong performance of several new models, successfully captured the December market share crown with a 21% share, demonstrating its enduring strength after regaining its momentum.

Xiaomi followed closely with a 16% market share, showcasing a steady performance despite a slight post-new-product-launch dip. vivo secured third place with a 15.9% market share (including iQOO's 4.7%).

Apple's December market share reached a post-new-product-launch low of 14.1%, reflecting the challenges it faces in the Chinese market. Honor and OPPO took fourth and fifth place with 13.2% and 12.6% market share (including OnePlus' 1.2%), respectively. Huawei Smart Selection and Realme also showed competitiveness in niche markets, capturing 2.1% and 1.0% respectively. The "Others" category accounted for 3.9%, highlighting the diversity and intensity of competition in the Chinese smartphone market.

Rise of Domestic Brands, Apple Faces Challenges

Both the full-year and December rankings demonstrate the remarkable achievements of domestic smartphone manufacturers, even surpassing iPhone. Despite Apple's low-price strategy, its impact was not significant. The omission of certain features in iOS 18 may also have negatively affected sales.

Outlook for 2025: Continuous Effort is Key to Maintaining Competitiveness

As 2024 concludes, maintaining the status quo will be insufficient for success in the 2025 market. Major manufacturers need to invest greater efforts to maintain a leading position in increasingly fierce competition and consistently deliver superior products and user experiences. Sticking to existing strategies or complacency won't suffice; continuous innovation, increased R&D investment, and adaptation to market changes are crucial for survival. This requires manufacturers to have sharper insights into market trends and precise strategic adjustments based on user needs. The ability to better grasp the market pulse will determine who emerges victorious.

In summary, the 2024 Chinese smartphone market was intensely competitive, with domestic manufacturers displaying strong performance while Apple faced significant pressure. Continuous innovation and adaptation to market changes will be key determinants of success for all manufacturers. Only by constantly improving product competitiveness and actively exploring new market opportunities can companies achieve greater growth in future market competition. This requires not only technological breakthroughs but also a deep understanding of market and consumer needs. The smartphone market is constantly evolving; manufacturers must adapt to thrive. The diversification of user needs provides more opportunities; those who better satisfy these needs will capture larger market shares. Therefore, continuous innovation and precise understanding of user needs will be crucial in future smartphone market competition.