Apple has overtaken Xiaomi to take fourth place in the Chinese smartphone market, pushing the privately owned Chinese electronics company back to fifth with 13 million units. This comes even as the country’s smartphone market suffers its first-ever decline as shipments fall 4% in 2017.
The Canalys research group says the drop was partly due to China having one of its worst year-on-year performances in quarter four of 2017, with shipments plummeting by over 14% to just under 113 million units. China- based Huawei grew shipments by 9% against the overall market decline, shipping more than 24 million smartphones and staying on top.
Shipments fell for both Oppo and Vivo (both are also based in China), by 16% and 7% respectively, but they held onto their respective second- and third-place positions. Oppo shipped 19 million smartphones, while Vivo shipped 17 million.
