2024 China Smartphone Market Deep Dive: Huawei's Strong Comeback, Apple's Stumble

2024 China Smartphone Market Deep Dive: Huawei's Strong Comeback, Apple's StumbleThe 2024 mainland China smartphone market shipment report has been officially released. Data from market research firm Canalys shows that shipments reached 285 million units, a 4% year-on-year increase

2024 China Smartphone Market Deep Dive: Huawei's Strong Comeback, Apple's Stumble

The 2024 mainland China smartphone market shipment report has been officially released. Data from market research firm Canalys shows that shipments reached 285 million units, a 4% year-on-year increase. This marks the first positive growth in the mainland China market since the downturn in 2022, offering domestic manufacturers a much-needed respite. Further growth is anticipated in 2025 with the launch of government subsidies for phones.

Huawei Leads Growth, Jumps to Second Place

Canalys reports that Huawei led the mainland China smartphone market with a 37% year-on-year growth rate, the only top-five brand to exceed 15%. Its market share jumped to second place, with 46 million units shipped, representing a 16% market share. Huawei's strong comeback and growth momentum are remarkable. The hot sales of the Huawei Mate70 series are a significant driver of this growth. Most Mate70 models remain consistently out of stock, with Pro and higher-end versions requiring pre-orders and delivery times ranging from 7 to 30 days. Even the standard version only has certain colors readily available, highlighting strong market demand. In contrast, the iPhone 16 series adopted a significant price reduction strategy, with the standard version dropping as much as 1300 yuan (approximately $180 USD) on e-commerce platforms like Pinduoduo, reaching a price as low as 4699 yuan (approximately $650 USD).

vivo Shines, Remains in First Place

Despite Huawei's rapid growth, vivo remained the top performer in the 2024 Chinese market. vivo achieved an 11% year-on-year growth rate, second only to Huawei among the top five brands, also experiencing positive growth. With 49.3 million units shipped and a 17% market share, it solidified its position at the top. vivo's "sea of phones" strategy, continuously launching numerous models across different price points and user needs throughout 2024, secured its market leadership.

Apple Suffers Setback, Market Share Continues to Decline

In stark contrast to Huawei and vivo, Apple, OPPO, and Honor underperformed. While Apple remained in third place, shipments fell by 17% year-on-year. Apple's performance in the Chinese market remained consistently sluggish throughout the four quarters of 2024, even briefly falling out of the top five. Even the launch of the iPhone 16 series in Q4 failed to significantly improve its market performance. Instead, it was negatively impacted by the earlier release of Android flagships and the Huawei Mate70 series, leading to a 25% plunge in Q4 shipments. Globally, although Apple surpassed Samsung for two consecutive years as the world's largest smartphone brand by shipments, its share in the Chinese market decreased by 1% year-on-year, holding only a 15% share.

OPPO and Honor Maintain Steady Performance, Holding Strong Positions

OPPO and Honor both saw a 3% year-on-year decline in shipments, with very close figures of 42.7 million and 42.2 million units, respectively, and both holding a 15% market share. These three brands (Apple, OPPO, and Honor) together accounted for 45% of the Chinese smartphone market, forming its core strength.

Xiaomi's Absence from Top Five Raises Questions

Xiaomi's absence from Canalys' top five list generated considerable attention, a departure from its usual presence and significant growth in most quarters. Part of this is attributable to differences in data collection methodologies. Different firms vary in how they define and count smartphone shipments. Some combine main and sub-brands, while others count them separately. For example, OPPO and OnePlus, both using ColorOS, are often aggregated; while realme, using realmeUI, is excluded from OPPO's market share. In Canalys' ranking, Xiaomi and Redmi were likely counted separately, diluting the overall Xiaomi ecosystem shipments and preventing it from entering the top five.

However, this is not the sole reason. Xiaomi's increasingly distinct product lines have led to a growing divergence in Xiaomi and Redmi's user bases. Both brands focus on a premium strategy, using fewer models to target different user groups and price points. In 2024, Xiaomi released only five different phone series. Xiaomi has completely abandoned the market below 2500 yuan (approximately $350 USD), leaving it to Redmi. However, the market below 2000 yuan (approximately $280 USD) still holds significant share and volume. For Xiaomi to regain a top-five position, it needs to adopt OPPO and vivo's strategy in the lower and mid-range markets, utilizing a "sea of phones" approach to reach a broader user base.

2025 Chinese Smartphone Market to Accelerate Restructuring

Competition in the Chinese smartphone market will intensify in 2025. Huawei completed product updates for all its existing phone series in 2024, all equipped with Kirin chipsa landmark achievement. Huawei may pursue even more aggressive product line adjustments in 2025. This undoubtedly puts immense pressure on other brands, especially in the mid-range and entry-level segments. The return of the Huawei Nova series further exacerbates market competition.

Huawei's advantage is more pronounced in the high-end market. According to another report, Huawei holds the third position in the global market for phones above $600 USD with an 8% share, trailing only Samsung and Apple. In mainland China, Huawei's share reaches 33%, second only to Apple (52%). While Apple still holds over half of the high-end market, its share decreased by 5% year-on-year, while Huawei's increased by 34%. Honor and Xiaomi hold only 5% and 3% of this market, respectively.

The challenges for Huawei are multifaceted, forcing other brands to develop superior products, more finely segmented product lines, enhance user experience, and employ differentiated strategies to precisely target user segments. Simultaneously, overseas brands like Apple and Samsung will launch new productssuch as the iPhone 16E, iPhone 17, and Samsung S25 seriesto address the competition, further intensifying the already fierce market rivalry.

2025 will witness a thrilling battle in the Chinese smartphone market. Let's wait and see.