China Smartphone Shipments Decline for Second Straight Month, Local Brands Dominate Market

In the first two months of 2024, total smartphone shipments in China experienced a significant decline after witnessing a positive trend in January. Data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed that smartphone shipments dropped more than 30% year-on-year, totaling 14 million units for the month. Local brands dominated the market, accounting for approximately 83% of the total shipments, while foreign products, such as Apple’s iPhone, saw only about 2.4 million units shipped in February, marking a 31.7% decrease from the previous year.

Local brands had experienced a surge in demand in January, with total smartphone shipments increasing by 61.4% to 29.5 million units. However, this trend reversed in February as demand started to fall rapidly. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple has been facing a slowdown in iPhone demand in China, with unit sales falling by 24% year-on-year in the first six weeks of 2024. This decline poses a significant challenge for smartphone manufacturers, particularly foreign brands like Apple who struggle to maintain their market share amidst rapidly changing market dynamics and innovative and adaptive strategies required from all major players in the sector.