Apple tops Chinese smartphone market in early 2023 - Xiaomi and Honor fail
The Chinese smartphone market, like the global market, declined in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same period last year. All of the top five companies shipped fewer devices than a year ago. Overall, the market sagged by 11%, from 75.6 million to 67.6 million smartphones.
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Apple managed to increase its share from 18% to 20% despite a 3% drop in sales. The US manufacturer delivered 13.3 million versus 13.7 million smartphones. This allowed the Cupertino-based company to lead the Chinese market.
OPPO and vivo were also in the top three manufacturers. Their sales were down 10% and 7% respectively. OPPO sold 12.6 million smartphones and took 19% of the market. The 11.3 million devices sold gave vivo a 17% share.
Honor and Xiaomi lost the most. Honor was able to lead the Chinese market after separating from Huawei. It shipped 15 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2022, increasing its share to 20%. In the reporting period, sales fell by more than a third and the share dropped to 14%.
| The company | Q1 2023 (shipments) | Q1 2023 (share) | Q1 2022 (supplies) | Q1 2022 (share) | Growth |
| Apple | 13.3 million | 20% | 13.7 million | 18 | -3% |
| OPPO | 12.6 million | 19% | 13.9m | 18 | -10% |
| vivo | 11.3 million | 17% | 12.2 million | 16 | -7% |
| Honor | 9.7 million | 14% | 15 million | 20 | -35% |
| Xiaomi | 8.5m | 13% | 10.6m | 14 | -20% |
| Rest | 12.2 million | 18% | 10.2m | 13 | 19% |
| Total | 67.6 million | 100% | 75.6 million | 100 | -11% |
Xiaomi is in fifth place, controlling 13% of the market, down 1% from the baseline period. Smartphone sales fell 20%, from 10.6 million to 8.5 million units. All other companies shipped a total of 12.2 million devices, 19% more than a year ago.
Source: Canalys