IDC has announced its Q1 2024 rankings for the China phone market, and the competition between brands has been so tight that the research firm declared two on top: HONOR and Huawei.

With a very close 0.1% difference, HONOR managed to clinch onto the top with 17.1% while Huawei has 17%. HONOR’s strong performance is attributed to the Magic6 series released in China earlier this year, while Huawei has posted tremendous growth in this quarter alone. “HONOR climbed to the top spot, thanks to its well-rounded product portfolio and the Magic 6 series which came with popular AI features,” said Arthur Guo, senior research analyst in Client System Research for IDC China. “Meanwhile, Huawei made a strong comeback and achieved a tie with Honor, though supply constraints will still be a pain point.”

OPPO and Apple virtually tied for the third place, while Vivo is in 5th place completing the lineup. China’s smartphone market grew 6.5% year-on-year growth in Q1 2024 alone, resulting in a close fight between many brands. “The close race among the top-tier players implies that Chinese consumers are more likely to change from one brand to another,” said Will Wong, senior research manager for Client Devices at IDC Asia/Pacific. “Thus, there’s an increased need for action from the vendors to keep innovating to ensure strong customer stickiness.”

We have teams in China covering both HONOR (as announced: The Magic6 Pro is set to launch in the Philippines as soon as next month) and Huawei (which we have a first impressions article of the Huawei Pura 70 Pro out already), so check them out on the website and our social media channels.