The new numbers from China are in: iPhones go down a whole 10%, Huawei sales soar 37% up

Probably half of all the talk about Apple these days involves China in one or another way, and how the Cupertino giant faces problems in the PRC(People's Republic of China).

Most recently, reports about the Mate 60 Pro and how it sold 1.6 million units in six weeks made headlines. Less than ten days ago, there was another report that the iPhone 15 series is reportedly selling 'far worse' than the iPhone 14 in China. At the end of the summer, China decided to ban Apple’s phones in central government offices. Anticipating all of that – or maybe by pure coincidence – Apple started iPhone 15 production in India in August, as it plans to eventually move production out of China.

What’s the news?

A new market intelligence report suggests that Chinese iPhone sales fell 10% year-on-year, between Q3 2022 and the same period in 2023(via 9to5Mac). This was significantly worse than the overall 3% decline in the Chinese smartphone market.

Several explanations are offered, but the simplest is the Huawei Renaissance and its comeback with the Mate 60 Pro, whose hardware made US officials mad.

The report says that a 3% YoY (year-on-year) smartphone market decline is actually a somewhat positive trend, given that the fall is smaller than the ones in recent quarters. That could turn out to be a sign of a return to growth.

The only brands in China that delightfully observed their sales boosts are Mi and Honor – with 5% and 3% more, respectively. Huawei saw sales rocket up by 37%. The iPhone experienced a 10% drop.

Is the battle over?

It’s safe to say that Apple will not just roll over and give up one of its most important markets. Even if the iPhone 15 line continues to not sell stellar in China, the Cupertino giant won’t take that too hard and instead would focus on what could improve next year. And, who knows – maybe Chinese users are waiting for the November, December and January tech offers and discounts to clean out the iPhone 15 stock…

Speaking of the upcoming iPhone 16 line, it should be more seductive. Analyst Jeff Pu shared some details about what to expect from the iPhone 16. According to him, next year’s Pro models will be equipped with a faster 5G modem, Wi-Fi 7, and a new 48-megapixel ultra-wide lens. In contrast, the non-Pro versions (the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus) will get some of the technologies introduced with the iPhone 15 Pro, such as Wi-Fi 6e.