In February, China’s smartphone market suffered a sharp decline, reversing the positive trend observed in January. According to data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, smartphone shipments fell by more than 30% year-on-year. Total shipments for the month fell 31.3% to 14 million units. Local brands accounted for approximately 83% of the total, highlighting their dominance on the domestic market. Foreign products, including Apple’s iPhone which accounts for the majority of shipments, saw only about 2.4 million units shipped in February, marking a 31.7% reduction from a year earlier.
In January, total smartphone shipments had seen a surge of 61.4% to 29.5 million units, with local brands recording a 165% increase. Looking at the first two months of 2024, total smartphone shipments saw an increase of 12.5% to 43.6 million units. In particular, 5G models saw growth of 13.3%, with 38.7 million units shipped. Apple has faced a slowdown in iPhone demand in China in recent months. Data from Counterpoint Research showed that unit sales in the country fell 24% year-on-year in the first six weeks of 2024.
Kuo Ming-Chi, an analyst at TF International Securities, predicted in late January that annual iPhone shipments would see a decline of about 15%. This trend reflects a significant challenge for smartphone manufacturers, particularly foreign brands looking to maintain their market share in one of the most competitive environments in the world. Falling demand and rapidly changing market dynamics will require innovative and adaptive strategies from all the big names in the sector.