Huawei, Xiaomi beat Apple in China amid smartphone market’s recovery - South China Morning Post

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Smartphone sales in China rose 11 per cent in the first four weeks of October compared with last year, in the latest sign that the market is recovering from an eight-month slump, as top domestic brands recorded significant growth to beat rival Apple.

According to a new report published by Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi, Honor and Huawei Technologies were the main forces behind that growth, with Huawei seeing sales rise 90 per cent year on year during the period.

“The clear stand-out in October has been Huawei with its turnaround on the back of its Mate 60 series devices,” Counterpoint China analyst Archie Zhang said in the report, referencing the Shenzhen-based company’s latest handsets launched in late August that include the Mate 60 Pro. That device is equipped with an advanced made-in-China 5G chip, despite US sanctions intended to stifle access to such technology.

“We’re also seeing a halo effect, with other models from the vendor performing well,” said Zhang, adding that Huawei’s sales had benefited from effective marketing and strong media coverage surrounding its surprise chipset.

Xiaomi launched its latest flagship smartphones in late October. Photo: VCG

Xiaomi, which launched its latest flagship smartphone Xiaomi 14 on October 26, saw sales in China jump 33 per cent during the four-week period.

The company sold more than one million units of the Xiaomi 14 in less than two weeks, according to a Weibo post last week from Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun, despite garnering less media attention than Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro.

In the run-up to the Singles’ Day shopping festival between November 4 to 11, Xiaomi 14 was the top-selling smartphone on Alibaba Group Holding’s e-commerce platform Tmall, Xiaomi said in its official WeChat account recently. Alibaba owns the Post.

The smartphone maker also posted Singles’ Day sales records across a range of products in the period of October 23 to November 11, selling more than 22.4 billion yuan (US$3.18 billion) worth of products on various online platforms, according to the statement.

Xiaomi was the only top-five smartphone brand to see both an on-quarter and on-year increase in global shipments in the September quarter, as the brand strengthened its positions in key markets such as China and India, a previous Counterpoint report showed.

An Honor smartphone seen at he International Consumer Electronics Fair in Berlin in September. Photo: Getty Images

Honor, the Huawei spin-off that was the top-selling smartphone brand in China in the third quarter, recorded a 10 per cent rise in sales in the first four weeks of October, according to Counterpoint.

Meanwhile, sales of Apple and other smartphone brands in China fell 12 per cent during the period.

The US tech giant released the iPhone 15 in September, but saw its initial sales track slightly behind the previous model in the world’s largest smartphone market, according to data from Counterpoint.

Still, an increase in overall demand marks the latest evidence that China’s smartphone market is close to exiting an extended slump, said Counterpoint’s senior China analyst Zhang Mengmeng in the report.

“Whether it’s [year-on-year growth] or more short-term [week-on-week growth], the numbers are suggesting a recovery,” she said.

An Apple store in Shenyang, China’s northeastern Liaoning province. Photo: AFP

The pace of the recovery will depend on companies’ ability to resolve constraints such as production issues, with both Huawei and Apple under pressure to meet demand on new devices.

Apple has been experiencing issues related to specific colour variations of the iPhone Pro Max, resulting in extended wait times and higher prices on some shopping platforms, according to Counterpoint.

Higher-than-expected demand for Huawei phones and the resulting strain on its contract manufacturers and supply chain have also created shortages of the brand’s phones.

Customers now have to wait up to three months to get their hands on the Mate 60 Pro, according to ordering statuses shared by Chinese social media users who have bought the phones.

“Huawei’s ability to scale up to this new normal will be a major determinant not just for their own growth, but for the broader market,” said Counterpoint senior manufacturing analyst Ivan Lam.

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Huawei, Xiaomi beat Apple in China amid smartphone market’s recovery - South China Morning Post
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