Apple's iPhone sales in China fell 24 per cent year-on-year in the first six weeks of 2024, according to research firm Counterpoint, as the U.S. company faced increased competition from domestic rivals such as Huawei. The U.S. tech giant's chief competitor in China in premium smartphones, Huawei, saw unit sales rise by 64 per cent in the period, according to the report. Apple's share of the Chinese smartphone market dropped to 15.7 per cent, putting it in fourth place, compared with second place in the same period of 2023 when it accounted for 19 per cent of the market.

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Huawei rose to second place as its market share expanded to 16.5 per cent from 9.4 per cent a year earlier. The overall smartphone market in China shrank 7 per cent, the report said. Apple "faced stiff competition at the high end from a resurgent Huawei while getting squeezed in the middle on aggressive pricing from the likes of OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi,” said Counterpoint's senior analyst Mengmeng Zhang.

Apple began subsidizing certain iPhone models by as much as 1,300 yuan ($180.68) last week through flagship stores on Tmall, Alibaba's major marketplace platform. It had already offered iPhone discounts of up to 500 yuan on its official sites last month.

Huawei has seen a resurgence in its premium smartphone sales since it released its Mate 60 series in August after struggling for years with U.S. restrictions on the exports of key components to the company. Honor, the smartphone brand spun off from Huawei in 2020, was the only other top-five brand to see unit sales increase during the first six weeks of the year, up 2 per cent. Chinese brands Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo dropped 15 per cent, 7 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.