Apple joins China’s top five smartphone makers in third quarter as government welcomes CEO Tim Cook’s visit
Apple’s joining the top five smartphone vendors in mainland China is welcome news for CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting the communist country.
Market research firm IDC stated in its “Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker” that China’s smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2024 increased by 3.2% year-on-year to 68.8 million units.
This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of expansion, driven by a surge in device upgrades due to sustained pent-up demand, researchers said.
IDC added: “Apple once again ranks second in the top five smartphone companies with the launch of the new iPhone 16 series.”
chinese apple
This comes after market research firm Counterpoint Research revealed last week that sales of Apple’s iPhone 16 were off to a strong start in China, an encouraging sign of Apple’s momentum in this important market. It becomes.
In July, Canalys announced that Apple (which launched the iPhone 15) had fallen behind local smartphone brands in the mainland China smartphone market in the second quarter, despite the market growing 10% year-on-year. I discovered that it had fallen off. Shipments exceeded 70 million units.
Meanwhile, research firm CINNO revealed that Huawei exceeded Apple in smartphone shipments in mainland China in August for the first time in 46 months, or about four years.
But then, Apple and Huawei’s latest smartphones both launched in China on September 20th, with Apple bringing the new iPhone 16 to the market. iPhone 16 will be equipped with Apple Intelligence (for the US market) through the iOS 18 update starting next week.
top 5
According to IDC, Apple has once again ranked second in the top five smartphone companies with the launch of the new iPhone 16 series.
The company said initial sales were on par with its predecessor, and IDC expects upcoming promotions and the planned launch of Apple Intelligence to drive future demand.
Arthur Guo, Senior Research Analyst, Client Systems Research, IDC China said: “A large wave of device upgrades is driving a sustained recovery in China’s smartphone market.” People are more willing to buy new smartphones.”
IDC ranked the top five smartphone manufacturers as follows: vivo grew 21.5% year over year to capture 18.6% market share. Apple took second place after experiencing negative (-0.3%) growth, with a market share of only 15.6%. Huawei ranked third with 15.3%, an increase of 42% from the previous year. Xiaomi was in fourth place with 14.8%, an increase of 12.8% year-on-year. Honor took fifth place due to a 22.5% decline in growth rate, with a market share of 14.6%.
IDC notes that Huawei later launched the Mate 60 smartphone with surprisingly advanced chips, and more recently, on the same day that Apple launched the iPhone 16 series, a double-hinged or tri-fold smartphone. He pointed out that the company has launched the Mate XT.
IDC believes that the launch of the world’s first tri-fold mobile phone will further accelerate the development of the folding market.
Tim Cook visit
Meanwhile, CEO Tim Cook was welcomed back this week during his second visit to China in 2024.
According to reports, Mr. Cook met with China’s Industry and Information Technology Minister Jin Zhuanglong on Wednesday, as well as the heads of several local companies, including China Mobile and Weibo.
In a meeting with the Chinese government in Beijing, Cook reportedly said Apple would increase investment in China, thereby contributing to the development of its supply chain.
Reuters reported that Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao told Tim Cook during a meeting on Friday that he welcomes Apple to continue deepening its presence in the Chinese market.
Wang said China is ready to cooperate in returning China-US economic and trade relations to a healthy and stable development path through regular exchanges between governments and businesses.
Wang said China will further optimize its business environment and continue to provide high-quality services to foreign companies, but Cook also said that emphasizing national security is “not conducive to normal economic and trade exchanges.” I told Mr.
Cook, who visited Chinese social media giant Weibo’s offices on Wednesday, said Apple wants to bring Apple Intelligence to Chinese consumers as soon as possible, but there are strict regulatory processes that must be passed. It is reported that.
