iPhone’s Market Share in China Continues to Drop Rapidly

iPhone’s Market Share in China Continues to Drop Rapidly
Text Size
- +

Toggle Dark Mode

Apple has been encountering a series major setbacks in China, the world’s largest smartphone market. The competition for market share in the East Asian nation has been ferocious, with established manufacturers including Apple, Lenovo, and Samsung continuing to lose ground as new local upstarts jump into the fray.

A new report by Strategy Analytics outlines the declining popularity of the Apple iPhone, which

has slipped two rungs from third to fifth place in sales in China. Vendor shipments of iPhones in China dropped from 9.7 million to 7.3 million year over year in the second quarter of 2016, with market share dropping from 9.2% to 6.7%. Apple’s quarterly revenues from China also dropped to $8.85 billion, representing a whopping 33% decrease.

China is no longer Apple’s second largest market after the Americas, and Europe has regained its former place, tallying $9.6 billion in revenues, Quartz reports.

In addition to competition from native manufacturers, the Cupertino, California-based tech company has also faced regulatory obstacles from the Chinese government. Apple also faced legal woes, such as the accusation that its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus designs had been copied from Chinese manufacturer Baili. TechCrunch reports that a Beijing-based judge has ordered that the two models cease to be sold in the city.

As Apple’s fortunes have declined, the stars of native companies Vivo and Oppo have risen concurrently. Vivo’s market share has risen from 7.4% to 11.9%, whereas Oppo’s scrambled from 6.9% up to 13.9% in the same period.

As of now, Chinese smartphone makers are dominating the market, with Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo occupying the first four tiers and Apple occupying the fifth.

Sponsored
Social Sharing