Apple’s iPhone sees ‘remarkable growth’ in Mainland China in quarter three

The latest smartphone estimates from the Canalys research group show that Mainland China’s quarter three of 2022 smartphone market improved marginally over the second quarter with 70.0 million units shipped. However, Apple’s iPhone saw great growth.

Canalys says the Mainland China smartphone market is still struggling and declined 11% year-on-year in the third quarter as low shipment levels continued. vivo and OPPO revived sequentially after optimizing inventory levels in the first half of2022. vivo maintained its lead in the market with 14.1 million units in quarter three. OPPO (including OnePlus) ships 12.1 million units and rose to second place. HONOR lost growth momentum and slipped to third with 12.0 million units due to a lack of new launches. 

Apple came fourth with 11.3 million units, while Xiaomi completed the top five with 9.0 million units shipped in the third quarter. Apple’s iPhone sales grew 36% year-over-year in Mainland China.

“Apple saw remarkable growth in Mainland China in Q3,” says Canalys Analyst Amber Liu. “Its annual launch is highly anticipated by consumers and channels and strong demand for the iPhone 14 Pro series contributed to Apple’s overall performance. However, lackluster demand of the iPhone 14 series sent a strong signal that even Apple is not completely isolated from weak Mainland China consumer demand.”

She adds that under an onslaught of Android vendor competition, Apple had to concede to adopt aggressive promotions of its entry-level editions and previous generation devices, especially in the RMB5000-6000 (US$700-800) price band.”