On April 15th, market research firm IDC released a report stating that global iPhone shipments from January to March declined by 9.6%.
This decline is evident from Apple's promotional activities. During Christmas and Chinese New Year, iPhones were discounted, with even the official website offering direct promotions.
Third-party prices have dropped even further. Currently, the iPhone 15 Pro 256GB, originally priced at 8999 CNY, can be obtained for around 7200 CNY, a difference of nearly 2000 CNY.
In the domestic market, the competition is fiercer, as per BCI's data for the first quarter of 2024. The top three in terms of smartphone activations were Vivo (including iQOO), Honor, and Huawei.
Apple, however, fell to fourth place, with activations plummeting by 20% compared to the same period last year, reaching only 10.569 million units.
Contrastingly, Huawei has been thriving since the launch of the Mate 60 series, with a staggering 81% year-on-year increase in domestic activations to 10.584 million units in the first quarter, capturing a 15.5% market share.
Analysts suggest that Huawei is poised to snatch a significant portion of Apple's market share in the high-end segment this year, especially with the imminent release of the P70. With hardware upgrades addressing imaging shortcomings, Huawei is expected to further solidify its position in the premium market, posing a formidable challenge to Apple.
