According to reports, Apple's iPhone topped the Chinese market for the first time last year, becoming the best-selling smartphone. Despite the lowest shipment volume in nearly a decade in the Chinese smartphone market in 2023 and intense local competition, the performance of the iPhone was surprisingly strong.
The latest report from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that in the fourth quarter of 2023, the shipment volume of China's smartphone market was about 73.63 million units, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%, marking the first rebound after 10 consecutive quarters of year-on-year decline. But the total shipment volume for the whole year of 2023 was only about 271 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 5.0%, the lowest in nearly 10 years.
IDC pointed out that although the overall market has finally returned to a growth trend by the end of the year, the market performance is still significantly lower than expected. In the first half of last year, the overall mobile phone market was still in a sluggish stage due to the economic environment and the continued impact of the epidemic. However, in the second half of the year, with the improvement of the economic environment and the increasing attention from all sectors of society to the mobile phone market, market demand gradually improved and improved, but has not yet been fully released.
According to IDC's data, the current market demand mainly comes from the high-end population in 1st -3rd tier cities. Therefore, the best-selling products are mostly concentrated in the flagship product series of various brands such as Apple iPhone 15, Huawei Mate 60, Xiaomi 14, and vivo X100.
Apple topped the list
Among numerous mobile phone brands, Apple stands out for the first time, with iPhone shipments ranking first in the domestic market in both the fourth quarter and the full year of 2023. The report states that competition from domestic brands such as Huawei is becoming increasingly fierce, but timely discounts and promotions have helped reduce harm to Apple.
Previously, professionals, including strategists at US investment bank Jefferies, stated that global iPhone sales plummeted in the fourth quarter due to the cooling enthusiasm of the world's largest smartphone market for Apple's latest generation hardware.
IDC wrote, "Although Apple has been significantly impacted by competitors in the domestic high-end market, coupled with limited product upgrades leading to a decrease in attractiveness, it has still attracted more consumer demand due to significant price reductions and promotions in third-party channels. Although it no longer has significant advantages compared to Android flagship products, the overall comprehensive product strength of the iPhone is still one of the best."
IDC research analyst Arthur Gao also said, "Apple's top spot in 2023, especially in the face of Huawei's renewed competition and weak consumer sentiment, marks a huge success." Apple's ability to achieve this is attributed to the timely price promotion of its third-party channels, which stimulates demand.
In addition, IDC data shows that Xiaomi's success in the fourth quarter was mainly due to its smaller decline compared to its competitors. Throughout the year, Apple's sales decline of 2.2% in 2023 was better than local competitors such as Honor Device Co. and Vivo, both of which experienced double-digit declines. The overall shipment volume has decreased by 5%.