In a report released today, Counterpoint Research said that despite the discounts seen during China’s 618 shopping period, smartphone sales fell 13% year-on-year. Here are the details:
Memory costs weigh on 618 sales in China
In recent quarters, most press and analysts agree that the iPhone 17 lineup has countered the stagnation in the overall Chinese market, with healthy sales and strong growth.
However, according to a new report from Counterpoint Research, it wasn’t enough to maintain momentum during the Chi-Ha 618 shopping period.
Apple launched a promotional campaign about 618 days ago, combining official discounts, platform promotions, and trade-in incentives, allowing users to purchase the iPhone 17 Pro series at a total discount of up to RMB 2,000. The price cuts quickly translated into strong sales, propelling Apple to the number two spot in the market. Despite the series of recoveries, sales were still down 9% year-on-year, mainly due to more aggressive promotional efforts for the iPhone 16 series in the same period last year.
According to Counterpoint, from May 25 to June 21, Huawei led China’s smartphone market with a 21% share. Apple and OPPO followed with 18% each, ahead of vivo’s 17%, Xiaomi’s 14% and HONOR’s 10%. All other brands together account for the remaining 2%.
Apple’s 9% decline was the smallest of the major brands that stalled, compared with 12% to 33% declines for its Chinese Android rival. Huawei was the only major brand to achieve growth, with sales increasing 19% year-on-year.
Counterpoint attributed the disappointing overall results of the 618 Shopping period to “price increases mainly due to higher memory prices,” adding that “high costs limited the intensity of promotions during this year’s 618 Shopping Festival compared to previous years, further suppressing already weak consumer demand.”
To read Counterpoint’s full report, click this link.
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