China smartphone sales up 6.6% in Q4 2023 after 10 quarters of decline

NEW DELHI: China’s smartphone sales bottomed out in Q4 2023, increasing 6.6 per cent YoY to mark the first quarterly YoY growth after 10 consecutive quarters of YoY declines, according to Counterpoint’s Market Pulse Service.

Huawei’s comeback with its own 5G chipsets continued to attract consumers, while Xiaomi and HONOR sustained strong performance with double-digit growth.

Despite a 9 per cent YoY drop, Apple retained its first position in Q4 with 20.2 per cent market share, followed by Xiaomi (16 per cent) and HONOR (15.2 per cent).

However, from an annual perspective, China’s smartphone sales still declined 1.4 per cent YoY, compared to a 13.9 per cent YoY decline in 2022.

Apple ranked first with 17.9 per cent share, followed by vivo (16.9 pr cent) and OPPO (16.2 per cent).

“There are several factors behind the YoY growth in Q4 2023. The market was at a low point in Q4 2022, making YoY comparisons more favourable,” said Associate Director Ethan Qi.

Research Analyst Archie Zhang said that Huawei’s Kirin chipset was the primary driver of the brand’s growth.

In Q4 2023, Apple faced stiff competition from Huawei. Besides, the iPhone 15 series’ performance was lukewarm, something which was also indicated by the strong sales of the iPhone 14 series in H1.

“It seems OPPO and vivo are yet to benefit from the market recovery so far,” said the report.

The market is expected to record low single-digit YoY growth in 2024, the first one since 2018.