Apple faces another year of iPhone shipment decline in China as Huawei gains ground
iPhone shipments in China are expected to drop further this year, partly because of rising competition from domestic brands, according to market research firm IDC, as Apple faces growing headwinds in the world's largest smartphone market.
Advertisement
Apple's smartphone shipments in China were forecast to fall 1.9 per cent in 2025 owing to ongoing competition from
Huawei Technologies and a broader economic slowdown in the country, the consultancy said in a report on Thursday.
The exclusion of most iPhone models for a Chinese government subsidy programme aimed at consumer electronics priced under 6,000 yuan (US$818) also contributed to this decline, IDC said.
In contrast, total smartphone shipments in China were expected to grow 3 per cent this year, as government subsidies boosted demand for Android handsets, analysts said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook attends a government forum in Beijing in March 2024. Photo: AFP
The projected decrease in iPhone shipments underscores the mounting difficulties Apple has faced in China in recent years. Competition from local manufacturers has intensified, particularly with Huawei's resurgence in the premium smartphone segment in 2023.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
27 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Is Labubu the next Hello Kitty? Analysts debate the limits for China's Pop Mart
Pop Mart, the company behind the hit collectible character Labubu, was virtually unknown outside mainland China before 2024, but now some analysts are comparing its success to that of Sanrio and its Hello Kitty property, suggesting that the Beijing toymaker could have created a new playbook for cultural exports. Labubu, a sharp-fanged but cute little monster that is often sold as a plush clip-on charm for handbags, has attracted high-profile fans including the family of football star David Beckham. Its popularity pushed Pop Mart's Hong Kong-listed shares to a record high of HK$234 last week, after the company's market capitalisation topped HK$300 billion (US$38 billion) the week before. The rally followed the April debut of the Labubu 3.0 series , which drew long queues in London, New York, and Dubai 'For years, there's been a push [for Chinese companies] to 'go global' by exporting heritage and storytelling,' said Chris Pereira, founder and CEO at iMpact, a brand consulting company in Singapore. 'But Labubu flips that script. It's not trying to explain China, it's just trying to be lovable.' The sustained hype around Labubu had 'great similarities' to Hello Kitty, which turned 50 last year, according to JPMorgan Chase. The US bank said that beyond common traits in character design and business model, Labubu was also catching up with Hello Kitty in areas such as merchandising, licensing and Google Trends search interest. With international sales surging more than 480 per cent year on year in the first quarter, led by increases of 900 per cent in the US and 600 per cent in Europe, Pop Mart has become a new favourite among investors. Pereira said the popularity of the intellectual property (IP) opens the door for a wave of Chinese brands to succeed not because they are about China, but because they tap into universal emotions through strong design and clever marketing. 'They are telling a successful Chinese story without ever mentioning China,' he said. JPMorgan Chase initiated coverage of Pop Mart last week with a rating of overweight, and set its price target at HK$250 – the most bullish prediction among 43 analysts covering the toymaker.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's stablecoin ambitions offer Beijing a channel to bring yuan into crypto world
China is not a fan of cryptocurrencies. Over the past decade, the Chinese government has built up one of the world's most hostile regulatory frameworks against cryptocurrency-related activities, including trading and mining. Beijing views digital assets like bitcoin as a threat to the country's financial stability and capital account controls, and even a challenge to the nation's currency sovereignty. Advertisement In the face of challenges from bitcoin and other privately-issued digital currencies such as Facebook's Diem, formally known as Libra, China's central bank has started to promote the use of a 'sovereign' digital yuan. But the digital yuan 'experiment' has for years struggled to find relevance as a form of payment in domestic and international transactions. Against this backdrop, Beijing's tolerance of and supportive attitude towards the stablecoin ambitions of Hong Kong is interesting to observe. Last month, the city's lawmakers passed the Stablecoins Bill , which will take effect later this year, paving the way for stablecoins backed by the Hong Kong dollar and other assets in the city. The green light comes at a time when the second administration of US President Donald Trump has adopted a friendly stance towards stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency that maintains a fixed value by being pegged to a reference asset such as the US dollar. This photo illustration shows Chinese 100 yuan notes and US 100 dollar notes, in Beijing on April 8, 2025. Photo: AFP China is taking notice. While Beijing has yet to make any official comment on stablecoins, there are research papers making the argument that stablecoins, backed by US dollar assets, represent an extension of US dollar hegemony in the blockchain realm. Advertisement The world's top-10 stablecoins in terms of market capitalisation are all backed by US dollar assets, except Pax Gold that is backed by gold. There are also stablecoins backed by euro assets, but the market cap of these is tiny compared to US dollar ones.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump ‘likely' to speak to Xi this week, White House says, amid renewed trade tensions
US President Donald Trump is 'likely' to speak to China's President Xi Jinping this week, the White House said on Monday, amid renewed trade tensions between the two countries. Advertisement The prospect for such talks, mentioned to reporters by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, comes after China hit back at the United States over alleged violations of a temporary bilateral trade agreement reached in mid-May in Geneva. China's Commerce Ministry on Monday released a statement saying Trump's accusation last week that Beijing had violated the agreement is 'groundless' and 'grossly distorts the facts'. The ministry also criticised the Trump administration for introducing 'discriminatory measures' against China , including issuing guidance on export controls of artificial intelligence chips and revoking visas for Chinese students studying in the United States. Such comments were made after Trump lashed out at China on Friday for 'totally' violating the agreement reached in high-level talks in the Swiss city, under which the two countries committed to backing away from their respective triple-digit tariffs and trade restrictions. Advertisement 'I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual,' Trump said in a social media post.
