An Apple flagship store in Shanghai, China, October 15, 2024.
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Sales of foreign phone brands in China plunged in November, according to official data released Friday, underscoring further pressure on Apple, the biggest international handset vendor in the country.
In November, foreign mobile phone shipments in China stood at 3.04 million units, according to CNBC calculations based on data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, or CAICT.
That’s a fall of 47.4% from November 2023, and a 51% drop from October last year.
CAICT does not break down figures for individual brands, however Apple accounts for the majority of foreign mobile phone shipments in China with competitors like Samsung forming only a tiny part of the market.
The figures highlight the mounting pressure Apple is under in the world’s largest smartphone market as it battles rising competition from domestic brands.
Huawei, for instance — whose handset business was crippled by U.S. sanctions — saw a resurgence in the back end of 2023 and has aggressively launched high-end smartphones in China that have proved popular with local buyers.
Huawei’s growth far outstripped Apple in the third quarter of last year, according to the latest data from research firm IDC.
Apple is hoping its iPhone 16 series, which was released in September, will help the company regain momentum in China, with the Cupertino, California, tech giant promising a host of new artificial intelligence features via its Apple Intelligence software.
However, Apple Intelligence is not yet available in China due to complex regulations around AI in the country.
In the meantime, some of Apple’s domestic rivals have been touting their own AI features that are available on devices now.
In a show of how critical China is for the iPhone giant, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the country multiple times last year in an effort to shore up partnerships for Apple Intelligence with local Chinese firms.
In a bid to spur interest in the iPhone 16, Apple will begin discounts for the device on Saturday as part of a Lunar New Year holiday promotion.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
