The main drivers behind this resurgence are the Honor 90 and Honor X50 launches, along with the good performance of the company’s foldable models, with the Honor Magic V2 ranking first among all foldable models in Q3 2023 in China.
Huawei managed record YoY growth (37%) mainly due to increased interest in the Huawei Mate 60 Pro and the return of the in-house developed Kirin chipset. The leap puts Huawei breathing in Xiaomi’s neck (14% market share for Xiaomi and 12.9% for Huawei) and makes the situation in the market even more complex.
Apple experienced a double-digit decrease in sales, despite the launch of the iPhone 15 series in Q3. “iPhone sales declined as some demand for older models was fulfilled in Q1 and Q2 2023 due to earlier-than-expected price cuts by channels, which were not offset by the official price adjustment. This was compounded by initial supply constraints faced by the iPhone 15 series, which resulted in lower sales compared to the iPhone 14 series for the launch period,” explained senior analyst Ivan Lam.
Analysts believe the smartphone market in China is now close to bottoming out, and a potential recovery is in sight.
