Apple captures half of all smartphones sold during Chinese online fest

According to new research from Strategy Analytics, 14 million units of smartphones were sold during 6.18 online shopping festival in China this year, down -25% YoY. Apple solidified the leadership at the expense of Chinese brands. Xiaomi and Honor follow and rank in the top three list.

Linda Sui, Senior Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “COVID-related disruptions and economic headwinds caused the mixed performance. Smartphone online sales price grew to 4,300+ CNY (US$ 660+) this year thanks to the greater mix of higher-priced iPhones, up +13% YoY. However, total smartphone online sales revenue still posted -16% annual decline with 62.6 billion CNY (US$ 9.5 billion).”

Peng Peng, Analyst at Strategy Analytics, added, “Apple solidified the leadership with impressive performance during 6.18 festival this year. Apple outperformed the market selling nearly 7 million iPhone units, modestly down -4% YoY. We estimate Apple generated a revenue of 41.5 billion CNY (US$ 6.3 billion), with a full retail price of 6,300+ CNY (950+ USD). Apple ranked top by revenue share across all major platforms (JD, TMall and Pinduoduo etc.).”

Yiwen Wu, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, added, “Xiaomi and Honor ranked in the top three list, followed by vivo (IQOO) and OPPO. We estimate Xiaomi seized 30% volume share, slightly down from 32% one year ago. Honor captured 10% volume share, growing from 6% in 2021. Vivo (IQOO) and OPPO ranked the top five list with 6% and 4% volume share respectively. Xiaomi dominates the entry and mid-tier segment, Redmi Note 11 and 11 Pro sold very well on JD and TMall this year.”

Linda Sui, Senior Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “JD.com remains as the major platform. We estimate roughly 49% smartphones were sold through JD.com during 6.18 online festival this year, followed by TMall and Taobao (combined took 30% volume share). However, the leadership and dominance of traditional e-retailers (JD.com, TMall and Taobao, and Pinduoduo) have been dented by the rising livestreaming platforms, such as TikTok and Kuaishou that have been catching up quickly. We estimate TikTok and Kuaishou contributed to 8% and 6% smartphone online sales volume share this year during 6.18, up from 3% and 2% last year. We recommend all stakeholders tracking smartphone online channels to closely monitor and evaluate the development of China online market.”

CT Bureau