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Apple experiences soaring iPhone sales in China as Android loses ground

By Joshua Swingle

Published: Jan 09, 2020, 10:46 AM

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Apple experiences soaring iPhone sales in China as Android loses ground

Apple has been struggling to compete in China since late 2018, but new data indicates the introduction of the iPhone 11 series has finally helped the Silicon Valley-based brand turn things around in its second-biggest market.

The iPhone 11 is slowly helping Apple regain ground

Official figures (via Bloomberg) released by the Chinese government show that Apple managed to ship an impressive 3.18 million iPhones throughout December. It captured a decent 11% market share as a result and experienced strong annual growth of 18.7%.

These results marked a rather significant increase over October and November, when iPhone sales grew by 6%, but are perhaps most impressive when compared to the rest of the mobile segment.

Smartphone shipments in China for December stood at 28.92 million units, down a massive 13.7% compared to the same period in 2018. This was primarily down to the slowing demand for Android devices, which accounted for 89% of all shipments compared to the average share of 91.2% throughout the rest of the year.

Apple might struggle without a 5G phone

Information provided by industry sources suggests the standard iPhone 11 is the primary reason for Apple’s strong performance. It’s also believed the company will experience a strong start to 2020 thanks to the Chinese New Year.

The latter takes place in late January and typically leads to a sudden spike in smartphone sales throughout the country. Apple’s growing sales in the build-up indicates it’s on track to experience an impressive Chinese New Year.

This period will undoubtedly be followed by a sudden drop off in demand, which is when things could get a little rough for the company due to the growing popularity of 5G smartphones.

Samsung has 5G devices but Apple doesn't

Shipments of devices that support the next-generation networks totaled 13.77 million last year, but a huge 5.14 million of those were sold in December alone. This trend is only expected to continue and, with Apple not expected to release a 5G offering until September, the iPhone giant may struggle to compete in the coming months.

The iPhone 9 could help soften the blow

The nearing arrival of flagships from Huawei and Oppo in addition to those from Xiaomi and foreign brands such as Samsung won’t help Apple’s situation either. Fortunately, it appears the company does have one product up its sleeves that could soften the blow.

After years of reports and rumors, Apple is finally preparing to launch a spiritual successor to the iPhone SE dubbed the iPhone 9. It will be based on the old iPhone 8, something that was recently corroborated by a set of leaked renders but should include several flagship-level components.

The smartphone looks set to arrive powered by the iPhone 11’s A13 Bionic chipset coupled with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. A larger battery for improved battery life is to be expected too, in addition to a single rear camera.

Apple’s plans for the sensor remain unclear at this stage but some sort of upgrade is likely considering the iPhone 8’s age. Possibilities include implementing the iPhone XR’s rear camera or borrowing the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro main shooter.

Regardless, the presence of the A13 Bionic chipset means features such as Night Mode and Deep Fusion should be available to users, therefore providing a significantly improved photographic experience.

The iPhone 9 is expected to make its debut at an event in late March alongside the next-generation iPad Pro lineup. Shipments should begin soon after and, if reports are to be believed, the phone will be priced at $399, $50 less than the iPhone 8.