China iPhone Sales Likely to Continue Losing Ground to Huawei in 2024

Apple appears to be facing an uphill battle to reverse falling iPhone sales in China, with last year's double-digit decline projected to deepen through 2024 owing to strong interest in Huawei's latest home-grown lineup, according to analyst expectations (via Bloomberg).

huawei mate pro 60

Huawei Mate 60 Pro

In an investor note on Sunday citing industry checks, Jeffries analyst Edison Lee said Apple in December suffered a 30% year-on-year decline in ‌iPhone‌ sales in the country while the rest of the market grew, with Huawei seeing the fastest growth thanks to its latest Mate 60 lineup.

Jefferies estimates Huawei shipped 35 million smartphones last year, with only supply constraints preventing it from hitting even bigger heights spurred by a "patriotic fervor" surrounding the phone.

Released in September just weeks before the iPhone 15, Huawei's Mate 60 Pro uses a new China-made 7-nanometer processor tailored for the local market, showcasing the kind of advanced semiconductor manufacturing capabilities that US sanctions were originally designed to prevent.

Jeffries forecasts Apple will see a similar double-digit fall in ‌iPhone‌ sales for 2024, indicated by discounts on Apple's smartphone lineup across various online merchants, which are expected to cut into the average selling price without stimulating volume growth.

Apple's efforts to counter the slump are also likely to be hampered by China's decision last year to ban iPhones from the offices of multiple government agencies and state companies. China has a huge number of state-owned enterprises in power generation, seaport construction, mining, manufacturing, education, and investment markets.

Meanwhile, Huawei's comeback is predicted to continue, with the Chinese company continuing to develop and extend its own operating system, HarmonyOS, designed to rival iOS and Android.

Tags: China, Huawei

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Here's Which Vehicles Offer iPhone Car Keys

Sunday July 6, 2025 3:03 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. Apple has a web page with a list of vehicle models that ...
imac video apple feature

Apple Launching These 15+ Products Later This Year

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The calendar has turned to July, meaning that 2025 is now more than half over. And while the summer months are often quiet for Apple, the company still has more than a dozen products coming later this year, according to rumors. Below, we have outlined at least 15 new Apple products that are expected to launch later this year, along with key rumored features for each. iPhone 17 Series iPho...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
iphone 17 pro render majin bu

New iPhone 17 Pro Renders Highlight Apple Logo and MagSafe Design Changes

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:43 pm PDT by
New renders today provide the best look yet relocated Apple logo and redesigned MagSafe magnet array of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Image via Majin Bu. Several of the design changes coming to the iPhone 17 Pro model have been rumored for some time, such as the elongated camera bump that spans the full width of the device, with the LiDAR Scanner and flash moving to the right side. ...
Prime Day 25 Feature Warm Triad

The Best Early Prime Day Deals on Apple Products

Saturday July 5, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Amazon is soon to be back with its annual summertime Prime Day event, lasting for four days from July 8-11, the longest Prime Day yet. As it does every year, Prime Day offers shoppers a huge selection of deals across Amazon's storefront, and there are already many deals you can get on sale ahead of the event. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a ...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...

Top Rated Comments

contacos Avatar
20 months ago
Not gonna lie, I am sort of happy about this decline and I am saying this as an idiot that gave into buying an iPhone 15 Plus myself (my iPhone 12 Pro Max is still doing great and I honestly hardly notice a difference besides the battery obviously being much better).

Time for either a price drop an / or more innovations besides just further camera improvements
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wanha Avatar
20 months ago

You do realize China controls Apple's data centers in China? Tim sold out a long time ago. Apple is pretty much a Chinese company
You do realize the article said that the very reason Huawei is outselling Apple is because of "patriotic fervor" around Huawei's latest products?

You may think of the iPhone as Chinese (lol), but the Chinese people certainly don't seem to.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wikiverse Avatar
20 months ago

You do realize the article said that the very reason Huawei is outselling Apple is because of "patriotic fervor" around Huawei's latest products?
The 'patriotic fervor' line is pretty weak. It's about as weak of a take as the 'Apple is a Chinese company' line. They're both kind of dumb takes on what is really going on. Chinese people don't care for Chinese made products any more than Americans care about American made products. They prize foreign, particularly European, products much more highly, but Apple is seen as a luxury product in China.

Apple's sales are slowing because they've priced themselves out of the market. The Chinese economy is slowing - they're headed for their own real estate bubble burst - like the US had in 2008. People are tightening their belts and Apple is selling mid-tier hardware at premium prices. Their phones are more expensive and less impressive than they've ever been. Ordinary people in China are tightening their belts too and just can't afford Apple products anymore.

Huawei have got a good product offering for a much lower price, and they have the ability to get the phones into the hands of Chinese celebrities to promote it much more easily, plus Harmony OS doesn't have the same security restrictions as iOS, so they can pre-load and better integrate a lot of the apps that are popular in China.

The Chinese govt banning iPhones from govt agencies and companies is more to do with Apple helping TSMC move manufacturing out of Taiwan, and to expand product assembly to other countries like India. It's not because the Chinese are being patriotic, the Chinese government are punishing Apple, the same way they tried to punish Australia by banning coal and barley. In China, business is politics.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wanha Avatar
20 months ago

I think you're one of those kids that thinks you have "privacy" with your iPhone.

I love it.
Nice straw man you set up there, buddy.

Did I say any of those things? Can you find a single post I've ever written here or elsewhere where I say that?

Nope, because I've never written such a thing.

You just made it up and then pretended it was true so you could feel like you "won" the argument
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iphonehype Avatar
20 months ago
Brilliant news, hopefully we see some innovation in something apart from a new camera system every year
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icolove Avatar
20 months ago
Well, Xiaomi and Huawei both passed Apple in hardware eons ago.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)