According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, China’s smartphone shipments grew 8,9% year over year (YoY) to 71,6-million units in 2Q24.
The third consecutive quarter of growth led to 140,8-million units of shipments in the first half of 2024 and a 7,7% YoY growth. The recovery was supported by the pent-up replacement needs and a low comparison base year.
The Chinese OEMs, particularly vivo, Huawei, and Xiaomi, with large double-digit growth, were the biggest contributors to the increased momentum in the second quarter. This led to pushing Apple out of the top five into sixth position and allowed the local players once again to dominate the top five position after a hiatus of nearly four years. Although the price promotions helped improve the iPhone’s demand in 2Q24, Apple still saw a 3,1% YoY decline, whereas the overall Android market grew 11,1%.
“vivo climbed to the top spot in 2Q24, achieving a significant ascent from the fifth place in the last quarter, mainly driven by the new products that were well-received from low- to mid-range segment,” says Arthur Guo, senior research analyst in Client System Research for IDC China. “However, in the first half of the year, Huawei was the leader in the market despite the US trade restrictions, further closing the gap with Apple in the >$600 segment.”
“The premiumisation trend is also happening in China as consumers tend to use their devices for longer time. That drove the >$600 shipments share to nearly 26% in 2Q24 from around 23% in the same period last year,” says Jacob Zhu, research analyst for client devices at IDC Asia/Pacific.
“Although some consumers became more budget conscious and leaned towards buying cheaper smartphones amid the softer-than-expected economic recovery, creating an emerging opportunity in the used phone market that is not to be ignored.”