Honor returns to the top spot in China in Q3 2023, closely followed by Vivo and Oppo،
Honor has regained the top spot in China, according to the recently released reports on the smartphone market performance in the third quarter, closely followed by Vivo and Oppo. Reports come from market share analysts Counterpoint, CanalysAnd IDC and paint a somewhat bleak picture of China’s smartphone market, with a second consecutive quarter of modest decline, down 3%. The battle for the most units shipped is fiercer than ever in mainland China, with the top three warbands constantly swapping places every quarter. Honor took first place ahead of Vivo with a market share of 18.3% (Counterpoint) and sales growth of 3% year-on-year.
The main drivers of this resurgence are the launches of the Honor 90 and Honor X50, as well as the strong performance of the company’s foldable models, with the Honor Magic V2 ranking first among all foldable models in Q3 2023 in China.
Huawei reported record year-on-year growth (37%), mainly due to increased interest in the Huawei Mate 60 Pro and the return of the in-house developed Kirin chipset. This jump puts Huawei in the neck of Xiaomi (14% market share for Xiaomi and 12.9% for Huawei) and makes the market situation even more complex.
Apple experienced a double-digit sales decline, despite launching the iPhone 15 series in the third quarter. “iPhone sales declined as some demand for older models was met in the first and second quarters of 2023 due to earlier-than-expected price cuts by the chains, which were not offset by the official price adjustment. This situation was compounded by the initial supply constraints faced by iPhone15 series, which resulted in lower sales compared to the iPhone 14 series for the launch period,” explained senior analyst Ivan Lam.
Analysts believe that China’s smartphone market is now close to bottoming out and a potential recovery is in sight.
