Apple continued its losing run in China during the 618 shopping festival. Despite the discounts offered for a few weeks, consumers flocked to the competition, particularly Huawei. The company that once threatened to overtake Samsung as the biggest smartphone maker in the world witnessed an incredible 42.4 percent year-over-year shipment growth, beating out the local brands by a whale-sized margin.
New data reveals that Apple’s various iPhones were slashed up to $326 during the 618 shopping festival, but Huawei continued to grow in popularity
China’s smartphone sales grew 6.8 percent during the 2024 618 period, with data accumulated by Counterpoint Research mentioning that Huawei’s devices remained in high demand. A remarkable fact about these statistics is that the former Chinese giant offered the smallest discounts on its product range, such as the Mate 60 and Pura 70, and still managed to outpace the competition.
“Huawei was the big winner during the 618 period with a 42.4% YoY increase in smartphone sales. This was primarily due to continued demand for its new 5G products. Despite offering the smallest price discounts among major OEMs, Huawei’s products, such as the Mate 60 series and Pura 70 series, were still in high demand.”
Apple witnessed the smallest year-over-year growth during China’s 618 sale, dotting down a 2.7 percent growth. The California-based titan offered the biggest discounts during the shopping season, with certain iPhones slashed by up to RMB 2,350, or $326. Unfortunately, even this strategy failed to lure in customers, which can only mean that the iPhone 16 will have to be a blockbuster of a launch for Apple, or it will continue to see its shipments in the region dwindle.
The 618 shopping festival started on May 20 and ended on June 20, lasting slightly longer as Tmall commenced promotions a bit earlier. The extra days provided to consumers to enjoy major price cuts likely contributed to that 6.8 percent shipment growth that we mentioned above, with Huawei establishing a firm grip in this market.
News Source: Counterpoint Research
