According to the latest IDC report, Apple dominated the Chinese smartphone market with an impressive 17.3% market share in 2023, outpacing all its competitors. Honor closely followed with a 17.1% market share, while Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi secured 16.7%, 16.5%, and 13.2%, respectively. The remaining smartphone brands collectively held around 19.1% of the market.

Arthur Guo, a senior research analyst in Client System Research for IDC China, hailed Apple’s achievement in light of heightened competition from Huawei and a challenging economic climate. Guo attributed Apple’s success to strategically timed price promotions in its third-party channels, effectively stimulating consumer demand.

The broader smartphone market in China faced adversity in 2023, witnessing its lowest volume in a decade due to a sluggish economic recovery and weak consumer sentiment. Overall smartphone shipments experienced a five-percent decline, totaling 271.3 million units in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Despite the challenges, IDC identified encouraging signs of a potential market recovery, with fourth-quarter deliveries showing a 1.2% year-over-year increase to 73.6 million units. This marks a notable reversal, signaling the end of ten consecutive quarters of year-over-year decline.

The shifting market dynamics and Apple’s remarkable ascent to the top of IDC’s market share ranking are anticipated to allay concerns among investors regarding Apple’s iPhone sales in China and competition from other smartphone manufacturers.