Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) lost its position as the top smartphone seller in China during the first quarter of 2024, as its shipments dropped by 6.6% year-over-year amidst stiff competition, according to preliminary figures from IDC released on Thursday.
Honor and Huawei are now leading the market, fighting closely for the first place, with Honor holding a 17.1% market share and Huawei closely behind at 17%.
Meanwhile, Apple's market share decreased to 15.6%.
IDC specifies a statistical tie when the market share difference between vendors is 0.1% or less.
"Apple's price promotions in the quarter were unable to mitigate the impact of the intense competition from Android players," analysts at IDC China said.
In broader terms, China’s overall smartphone shipments increased by 6.5% to 69.3 million units.
Earlier in the week, data from Counterpoint earlier this week revealed a 19% decline in Apple’s shipments, marking its most significant downturn since 2020.