Apple, Samsung Smartphone Shipments Fall Amid Competition With Chinese Makers

A Xiaomi sales representative tends to customers at a shopping mall in Beijing on Jan. 15, 2025, amid a sluggish economy. Jade Gao/AFP

Apple and Samsung smartphone shipments declined in the fourth quarter of 2024 due to fierce competition from China-based smartphone makers, according to the latest data from market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

The global smartphone market saw a 2.4 percent growth year on year in the fourth quarter of 2024. However, iPhone shipments fell 4.1 percent year-on-year to 76.9 million units in the fourth quarter, while Samsung’s shipments fell 2.7 percent to 51.7 million units, said IDC in its report published on Jan. 13.

China-based mobile phone brands—including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Honor, Huawei, Lenovo, realme, Transsion, TCL, and ZTE—together accounted for 56 percent of the global smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2024, setting a new record for a single quarter.

“While their core markets remain China and Asia, these brands are rapidly expanding their footprint throughout Europe and Africa, driven by the strong performance of their low-end and mid-range devices. Notably, Huawei stands apart, with most of its shipments in the high-end and premium segments, underscoring its distinct market positioning in China,” said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for EMEA Client Devices, IDC.

Apple still ranked first in the global smartphone market in 2024 with a market share of 18.7 percent, followed closely by Samsung at 18 percent, and then China’s budget smartphone maker Xiaomi at 13.6 percent, according to the IDC data.

Apple iPhone sales in China declined year on year in 2024, dropping from first to third place in China’s market, to be surpassed by China’s other budget smartphone maker Vivo and Huawei, according to data from research firm Canalys.

The Chinese regime’s regulations may have contributed to this, as it banned government and state-owned company employees from bringing iPhones and other foreign devices to work in December 2023.

Apple rolled out Apple Intelligence in October 2024 following the launch of the iPhone 16. But Chinese regulations mean that none of the AI features are available in China, which also might affect its new iPhone sales in China’s market. “Apple Intelligence will not currently work for supported devices purchased in China mainland,” Apple’s website says.

“The Chinese regime encourages people to use domestic products, which has some negative impact on Apple’s sales in China,” Chen Shih-min, associate professor of political science at National Taiwan University, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 12. In addition, Chinese smartphones, such as Xiaomi, OPPO, and VOLVO, “are indeed cheaper,” he said.

Huawei and other Chinese tech companies have been accused of intellectual property theft for years, copying foreign companies’ design and technology.

Chen said that since Apple moved its production line and supply chain to China more than ten years ago, “obviously, some of its manufacturing technologies have also been learned by the Chinese. So you can see that now, Huawei, Xiaomi, and others have all used the technologies and China’s cheap labor to produce cheaper smartphones.” 

The Chinese regime also expanded its consumer subsidies to cover smartphones on Jan. 15. However, the subsidies only apply to items with a sale price less than RMB 6,000 ($835), which make Chinese smartphones the primary beneficiaries while excluding high-end foreign devices, such as iPhones.

The basic functions of Xiaomi, Huawei, and other Chinese smartphones can meet the needs of most users, Su Tzu-yun, researcher and director of Division of Defense Strategy and Resources at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 12.

“They can be used to watch TV series online and have good photo taking capabilities,” he said, which are the two main features that most consumers need.

An electronic billboard shows an ad for Chinese smart phone maker Xiaomi on a building in a popular shopping area Beijing, China, on Nov. 8, 2024. In its most significant set of fiscal measures, China has announced a $1.4 trillion plan in hopes of stimulating its economy. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Huawei and other Chinese made smartphones have been accused of posing a security risk by the United States, the tech industry, and international organizations, as the devices have backdoors that allow the Chinese government to spy on their users.

Reporters Without Borders warned journalists around the world to stay away from Huawei’s smartphones in 2022 as “strong circumstantial evidence points out that Huawei phones and operating systems do pose a threat to privacy and security.”

“They [the Chinese smartphone makers] built some backdoor programs into the chip, ordinary mobile phone software cannot detect it,” Su said. “It poses risks for consumers’ personal privacy and financial security.”

An employee works on a mobile phone production line at a Huawei production base during a media tour in Dongguan, China's Guangdong province, on March 6, 2019. WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images

He suggested that democratic countries can unite to conduct strict inspections on these Chinese cellphones to see if there are any security issues. “I think the incoming Trump administration will tighten the inspections on the Chinese devices,” he said.

Apple or Samsung smartphones have not been defeated by Chinese smartphones in the United States’ and other developed countries’ markets, Yeh Yao-Yuan, assistant professor of Political Science at the University of St. Thomas, said of the IDC data.

“Apple’s iPhones are too expensive for many developing countries’ consumers so they choose to buy Chinese smartphones, which are cheaper and the basic functions are not so different for their use,” he said.

He predicted that Chinese smartphones may continue to increase their share in the global market, “especially in the markets in Central and South America, Africa, and the Middle East.” But the growth won’t be significant, “because consumers in the United States, Canada, and Europe are not particularly interested in buying Chinese smartphones,” Yeh said.

Luo Ya and Reuters contributed to this report.