Huawei is back on top!

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Huawei’s smartphone market share regained the top spot in the Chinese market. After a five – year gap, Huawei has once again seized the market leadership position. According to data from Counterpoint released on January 21, smartphone sales in China declined by 3.2% year – on – year in the fourth quarter of 2024, making it the only quarter last year to see a year – on – year drop. Specifically, in the fourth quarter of 2024, Huawei secured the first place with a market share of 18.1%. Following Huawei were Xiaomi (17.2%) and Apple (17.1%), while vivo (16.3%), Honor (13.6%), and OPPO (12.5%) ranked fourth to sixth respectively. Mengmeng Zhang, a senior research analyst at Counterpoint, said, “In the fourth quarter of 2024, Huawei jumped to the top with a market share of 18.1%. Huawei’s sales increased by 15.5% year – on – year, mainly driven by the launch of the mid – range Nova 13 series and the high – end Mate 70 series.” This also marks the first time since the US sanctions that Huawei has regained market leadership. Huawei’s market share in the Chinese smartphone market once exceeded 40%, more than 25% higher than the second – place brand. Data from IDC shows that in the first half of 2020, Huawei topped the domestic high – end market (above $600) with a 44.1% share, while Apple came in second with a 44% share. However, by the fourth quarter of 2021, due to well – known reasons, Apple had captured more than 70% of the domestic high – end smartphone market. At that time, Yu Chengdong had commented on social media that Huawei’s “high – end market was mainly ceded to Apple, while the mid – and low – end markets were taken over by OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi.” Lu Weibing, president of Xiaomi Group, also noted that Huawei had lost 80 million users, with Xiaomi capturing 50 million, Apple taking 20 million, and Honor grabbing 10 million. The situation reversed after the return of the Mate 60 series in September 2023. According to IDC data, in the first three quarters of 2024, Huawei accounted for 30.7% of China’s high – end market, while Apple held 52%. Industry experts say that the significant growth of Huawei’s high – end market share after the return of the Mate 60 series was mainly due to two reasons: the return of Huawei’s existing high – end users’ replacement demand and the shift of some Apple users. In terms of sales volume, Huawei’s year – on – year increase of 15.5% was accompanied by counter – cyclical growth from Xiaomi and vivo. Specifically, Xiaomi, with a 17.2% market share, remained in second place. The strong sales of Xiaomi’s flagship product, the Xiaomi 15 series, launched in October 2024, were the main driving force behind this growth. In the fourth quarter of last year, Apple, Honor, and OPPO all saw significant declines in sales volume. Faced with fierce competition from Huawei and other Chinese smartphone manufacturers in the high – end market, Apple’s sales volume in the fourth quarter of 2024 fell by 18.2% year – on – year. After Huawei’s strong comeback, it inevitably squeezed the market of other smartphone brands. In the fourth quarter of last year, Honor’s sales volume dropped by 12.8%, and OPPO’s sales volume fell by 9.3%. Looking at the full year of 2024, smartphone sales in China increased by 1.5% year – on – year, a slight recovery compared to the 1.4% year – on – year decline in 2023. vivo led the market with a 17.8% market share, followed closely by Huawei with 16.3%, and Xiaomi came in third with a 15.7% market share. On January 16, Canalys reported that the annual shipment volume of smartphones in mainland China reached 285 million units in 2024, recovering mildly by 4% year – on – year after two years of decline. In the fourth quarter, Apple shipped 13.1 million units and maintained its traditional peak – season dominance. However, due to intensified competition from domestic manufacturers, Apple’s shipments fell by 25% year – on – year. It is worth noting that Apple’s shipment volume declined by 17% in 2024, the largest drop among the top five manufacturers. In an effort to stem the decline, Apple has launched several rounds of price – cut promotions in 2024, and Apple stores have also offered subsidies on the iPhone 16 series, the new models launched in early 2025. Currently, in some online official flagship stores, the price reduction of the iPhone 16 series exceeds 1,000 yuan. Recently, netizens have found that the price of the iPhone 13 128GB version, after the national subsidy, has dropped below 3,000 yuan, hitting a historical low. According to the sales page on JD.com, the iPhone 13 is available at a subsidized price of 2,999 yuan in designated areas. Looking ahead to 2025, Counterpoint estimates that the Chinese smartphone market will continue to maintain a low – single – digit growth trend.

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