According to Counterpoint Research, Apple suffered a fall in the value of smartphone sales during China’s recent Singles Day shopping festival, behind Chinese competitors Huawei and Xiaomi, who saw significant rises.
According to the research firm, the value of Apple’s smartphone sales fell 4% year on year over the two weeks from October 30th to November 12th. In contrast, the value of sales for Huawei and Xiaomi smartphones increased by 66% and 28%, respectively, year on year over the same time.
According to the report, the rises for Huawei and Xiaomi contributed to a 5% year-over-year increase in the total value of Chinese smartphone sales during the promotion period.
Apple’s newest iPhone 15 model costs 5,999 yuan ($832), while Huawei’s Mate 60 devices cost 5,499 yuan ($763). Xiaomi’s new Mi 14 smartphone starts at 3,999 yuan ($555).
Requests for responses from Huawei, Apple, and Xiaomi were not immediately returned.
China’s e-commerce platforms, such as Alibaba and JD.com, did not release sales figures for the Singles Day festival, having abandoned the practice last year, though JD.com said the value of Apple product transactions on its platform surpassed 10 billion yuan ($1.39 billion) during the period.
Analysts believe the Chinese smartphone industry is on the mend, with IDC forecasting year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter after 10 straight quarters of declining shipments.
Competition among smartphone models heated up in the run-up to the annual shopping extravaganza, with major Chinese e-commerce platforms providing considerable discounts on Apple’s iPhones throughout the sales season.
In late September, Apple debuted the iPhone 15 series, nearly a month after Huawei released the Mate 60 smartphone line, which was powered by Huawei’s independently created sophisticated technology.
The Mate 60 series has gained tremendous nationalistic backing in China, with admirers claiming that it demonstrates how Huawei overcame years of US export regulations, which originally hampered its smartphone company.
Xiaomi released its flagship Mi 14 smartphone series in late October, with CEO Lei Jun reporting that sales of the new line had reached 1 million devices in the first month of availability.
In addition to competing with local competitors, Counterpoint analysts blamed Apple’s poor performance on supply chain challenges that limited the availability of its new iPhone 15 models. “Apple is improving compared to last month but there still seems to be hiccups in terms of supply,” said Ivan Lam, senior analyst for manufacturing at Counterpoint, adding that he expects the situation to normalize soon.
