Their victory may be short lived
After quarter upon quarter of market contraction, Apple has finally managed to eke out a win in China, the biggest smartphone market in the world despite smartphone shipments in the country shrinking by 5%, according to research firm Canalys. Apple, possibly bolstered by the announcement and availability of new phones, have managed to ship 11 million phones this quarter, 40% more phones compared to the same time last year which was only 8 million.
Apple’s success may be short lived as the growth may be from users who have long been holding off upgrading to the latest model since last year. “Apple’s growth this quarter is only temporary. The high sell-in caters to the pent-up demand of iPhone upgraders in the absence of the iPhone X. Price cuts on earlier models after announcing the iPhone 8 have also helped. However, Apple is unlikely to sustain this growth in Q4,” said Canalys Research Analyst Mo Jia.
As far as other brands are concerned, Huawei is still the top dog in China who has 19% of the market share, followed closely by domestic rival OPPO at 18%, who held the #1 spot in the market during the same time last year. Vivo is in third with 17%, while Xiaomi is in fourth place.
