TMTPost -- Data from an institute under the Chinese government agency showcased how deeply iPhone sales fell in the world’s leading smartphone market.

Credit：Visual China

iPhone shippments in China dived about 33% year-over-year (YoY) in February, estimated China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a scientific research institution which is subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Data from the institution also showed the overall shipments in China dropped 32.9% YoY to 14.257 million units last month. Out of these shipments, 11.842 millions units made by domestic brands with a 32.5% YoY decline, and foreign brands contributed only about 2.4 million smartphones. February saw the first YoY decrease since last August, and the shipment volume crashed 55.1% from January, when the delivery soared 68.1% YoY. Shipments in February this year were partially affected by the later timing of China’s Lunar New Year. Considering the holiday factor,  shipments in China last month dropped 24.6% from those in January, 2023, when the Chinese New Year fell on.

According to CAICT data, there were a total of 46.035 million smartphones shipped in the first two months of 2024, increasing 14.6% YoY, while Apple recorded decrease in iPhone sales for a second straight month in China. The U.S. giant delivered around 5.5 million iPhones in January, with a 39% YoY decrease even deeper than a month later.

Previous market research data had issued an alert that Apple this year is facing increasing pressure on iPhone sales amid competition from Chinese rivals, especially Huawei Technologies Ltd.

Huawei ranked first in China in terms of smartphone sales during the initial two weeks of 2024, overtaking arch rivals like Apple, OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi, according to Counterpoint Research, a global technology market research firm.This is the first time for Huawei’s to ascend to the top spot since the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government in 2019 have continuously eroded its sales share.

The Huawei Mate 60 series, powered by its in house Kirin 9000S chip, is a key driver of Huawei’s recent success, a Counterpoint report last month said, adding that the strong brand loyalty and the successful launch of the HarmonyOS operating system also fueled the success. The report estimated that China’s high-end smartphone market grew by 27% in 2023. While Apple maintained the leadership in the market with its outstanding performance in the first half of 2023, its market share began to be eroded by Huawei and other Chinese brands from the third quarter of the year. Counterpoint also expects Chinese brands will continue their efforts to capture shares in the high-end market.  

Data from CAICT came as Apple CEO Tim Cook visited China earlier this week.  In his meeting with Chinese Commerce minister Wang Wentao in Beijing, Cook said  Apple will pump resources into applied research in Shanghai, without disclosing details of the investment. China, as Apple’s important market and homeland of Apple’s key supply chain partners, has rich human resources and strong innovation vitality, Cook said. The 63-year-old CEO said Apple will continue to be committed to long-term development in China and continue to increase investment in China's supply chain, R&D and sales.

Cook also attended China Development Forum (CDF),  an annual high-level event hosted by the Development Research Center of the State Council, China's cabinet. Themed "The Continuous Development of China," this year's CDF focuses on various issues, ranging from China's growth drivers and prospects, carbon neutrality, big health, digital transformation of industries, to new consumption. More than 400 people attended the forum, including experts from home and abroad, government officials,  representatives from international organizations and entrepreneurs.

Cook told reporters at CDF that he had visited China frequently over the past year because “it’s so vibrant and so dynamic here, I just always enjoy coming.” His social team documented on his Weibo profile visits with supply partners and a small coffee-making business using Apple technology. “I was visiting with several of our suppliers earlier this week with like BYD, Lens, and Everwin. The level of engineering that they've done to get the recycle clean down to run their operations on renewable energy, questioning every single thing that they're doing. It's the combination of apple plus our partner.” Cook said, lauding suppliers BYD Co., Lens Technology Co. and Shenzhen Everwin Precision Technology Co.