TechInsights: In Q3 2024, China's smartphone shipments increased by 3% year-on-year, with vivo leading the Chinese market

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, TechInsights reported that in the third quarter of 2024, China continued to maintain its position as the world's largest single smartphone market, with smartphone shipments increasing by 3% year-on-year to 65.7 million units, marking three consecutive quarters of recovery. This growth is related to the stabilization of the replacement cycle on the demand side and manufacturers launching various new products during the back-to-school season. TechInsights holds an optimistic outlook for the Chinese smartphone market in the coming quarters but is also concerned about potential inventory adjustments among major Chinese manufacturers during this period. Vivo (19%) led the Chinese smartphone market in the third quarter with shipments of 12.5 million units, a year-on-year increase of 17%.

From the perspective of operating systems, Apple's iOS maintained a stable market share of 15% in China, unchanged from the same period last year, while the shipment share of the Android system decreased from 72% a year ago to 70%, with its market share being eroded by Huawei's Harmony OS, which saw its shipment share increase from 13% to 15%. In October 2024, Huawei launched a new version of Harmony OS Next based on its self-developed kernel, which no longer supports Android applications.

From the manufacturer perspective, Vivo continues to lead the Chinese smartphone market with a 19% market share. OPPO/OnePlus follow closely behind, each with a share of 15.5%, while Honor, Huawei, and Apple follow with shares of 15.2%, 15.1%, and 15.1%, respectively. Competition among the top six smartphone manufacturers in China has intensified, with market concentration continuously increasing. The total market share of these manufacturers rose from 94.0% a year ago to 95.4% this quarter, limiting the growth potential of smaller manufacturers like Meizu and emerging brands.

Vivo (19%) led the Chinese smartphone market in the third quarter with shipments of 12.5 million units, a year-on-year increase of 17%. The company's robust performance is mainly attributed to strong demand for the iQOO series, strong performance of the Y series in the low-end market, and improvements in the X series in the high-end market. Additionally, Vivo has strengthened its cooperation with China Mobile, the largest operator in China, further driving growth.

OPPO (14%) and OnePlus (2%) combined shipped 10.2 million units. However, this manufacturer has continued its declining trend for the fifth consecutive quarter, with a year-on-year decrease of 6%. OPPO streamlined its product line, focusing this quarter solely on the mid-to-high-end market targeting young consumers with the A3 series. The Reno 12 series and the refreshed A3 series have both been well received by consumers. Meanwhile, OnePlus experienced a year-on-year decline of 8%. The brand lacks significant breakthroughs in China's highly competitive online market, raising doubts about its revival plans in the domestic market.

Honor (15%) maintained its fourth position with shipments of 10 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 11%. Honor slowed down its new product release cycle in the third quarter. The company is actively preparing for a potential IPO, underwent management changes in the third quarter, and plans to adjust its equity structure in the fourth quarter of 2024. Honor has also recently received investments from China Mobile, China Telecom, and its channel partners, indicating increased support from distributors. However, to ensure a successful IPO, Honor urgently needs to stabilize its domestic market performance in the coming quarters and accelerate its overseas expansion Apple (15%) climbed to fifth place, tied with Huawei. This quarter, iPhone shipments reached 9.9 million units, a year-on-year increase of 2%, improving from an 8% decline in the previous quarter. Aggressive price discounts on the iPhone 15 series and older iPhone models, along with strong promotions from third-party channels for the newly launched iPhone 16 series, helped Apple improve its performance in the world's largest smartphone market. However, geopolitical tensions and intensified competition from Chinese manufacturers in the high-end market will pose challenges to Apple's performance in the coming quarters.

Huawei (15%) dropped to fifth place, with shipments of 9.9 million units, a year-on-year increase of 19%. This quarter, Huawei's growth momentum slowed, with the Pura series underperforming, while demand for the Mate 60 series remained robust. Huawei launched two foldable devices this quarter: the Nova Flip and the Mate XT—the world's first mass-produced tri-fold smartphone. However, due to high prices and an overall cooling of the Chinese foldable screen market, the performance of these two devices was disappointing. The market is closely watching the upcoming Mate 70 series set to be released in November. However, given the stable performance of the iPhone in the Chinese market and the poor macroeconomic outlook, TechInsights is skeptical about whether the Mate 70 series can replicate the success of the Mate 60 Pro from a year ago