In the first quarter of 2024, sales of Apple Inc.’s iPhone significantly decreased in the Chinese smartphone market.

Data from the independent company Counterpoint Research shows that in the period from January to March of the current year, sales of the mentioned device in the Asian country fell by 19% compared to the result for the first three months in 2023. The figures for the first quarter are the worst for Apple in the Chinese smartphone market since the spread of the coronavirus in 2020.

Data from Counterpoint Research shows that, in general, sales in the specified Asian country cell phone market increased by about 1.5% in the period from January to March of the current year compared with the figure for the first three months of 2023.

Currently, in China, Apple is facing increasing competition from local smartphone manufacturer Huawei. Sales of the mentioned maker cell phone devices in the first quarter in the domestic market increased by almost 70% year-on-year.

Data from Counterpoint Research also shows that between January and March 2024, global iPhone shipments fell by about 10% compared to the figure for the same period in 2023.

The Chinese market is one of the most important for Apple. At the same time, the tech giant is facing an increasing number of difficulties in the Asian country. Apple’s position in China has become much more complicated after Beijing imposed an unspoken ban on the use of foreign devices in state-backed companies and government agencies. In addition, local consumers began to show a higher level of interest in Huawei products. This tendency is because last year the mentioned company presented the Mate 60 Pro smartphone with a 7-nanometer Kirin 9000s processor, which became a kind of sensation, refuting suggestions that strict export controls by Washington limited Beijing’s technological capabilities.

As we have reported earlier, Huawei Releases New Phone Lineup.