The year 2025 did not start well for Apple in China. According to the latest IDC analysis firm report, the iPhone is not very popular in the country. Apple is in fact the only smartphone manufacturer whose sales fell between the first quarter of 2025 and 2024.
In detail, 9.8 million iPhone were sent during the first quarter of this year, compared to 10.8 million a year earlier. Or, a 9%drop. Apple also had a drop in terms of market share, from 15.6% in the first quarter of 2024 to 13.7% in the first quarter of 2025.
The American giant is thus found in the fifth place in the Chinese smartphone market, behind the Chinese Xiaomi manufacturers (13.3 million units sent), Huawei (12.9 million), Oppo (11.2 million) and living (10.3 million).
A decrease linked to sudden tensions, but not only
Not only was Apple as successful as these local manufacturers, but it is also the only company among the 5 main ones whose smartphone sales have decreased. The first two of the podium, Xiaomi and Huawei, also increased their market share in China compared to last year, from 13.8% to 18.6% for the first and from 17% to 18% for the second.
According to an IDC analysis, this decrease could be linked to tensions between China and the United States, but also to the “high -end pricing structure” of Apple that “prevented capitalizing subsidies.”
As the 9TO5MAC site recalls, China has offered subsidies to consumers to encourage them to buy smartphones, but these only apply to smartphones of entry and medium range. To this is added Apple’s absence of intelligence in the iPhone in China. A problem that Tim Cook had already recognized in January, during the last presentation of the results of the last quarter of 2024.
With CNBC, Apple’s CEO said iPhone sales were stronger in countries where Apple’s intelligence is available. If this is the case in the United States or in France, this is not yet the case in China.
This new decrease occurs when iPhone sales in China have decreased for several months. Although the company was the market leader at the end of 2023, since then it has been dethroned by Chinese manufacturers.
Source: BFM TV
