Huawei First Overtakes Apple in China in Quarterly Tablet Shipments
BEIJING, February 22 ( TMTPost ) -- Recent data from a market research firm showcased Huawei Technologies Ltd ’ s counterattack is not just reshaping the landscape in the smartphone market.
Credit：IDC
Huawei reigned atop by quarterly tablet shipments in China, overtaking Apple Inc. for the first time since statistics began in 2010, according to data for the fourth quarter last year from the International Data Corporation ( IDC ) . The data showed Huawei accounted for 30.8% of the tablet market in the fourth quarter, increasing 9.6 points from a year ago, and Apple ’ s market share dropped by 6.7% points to 30.5%. Xiaomi, Honor and Lenovo took the third to fifth place with 9.4%, 7.6% and 7.2% of the market, respectively.
With a share of 33.6% in 2023, Apple still toppled Huawei in the Chinese tablet market in terms of annual shipments, while the share shrank 2.8 points from 2022. Huawei, second to Apple, increased its share from 24.1% to 26.5% in the year 2023. Xiaomi, Honor and Lenovo ’ s places in 2023 are the same with those for the fourth quarter, taking 10.4%, 8.0% and 6.2% of the market, respectively.
The year 2023 saw tablet shipments in China dropped 4.5% to 28.7 units, while sales for accelerated the drop for the fourth quarter. 8.2 million tablets shipped that quarter, representing a year-over-year ( YoY ) decrease of 5.7%. IDC said some vendors took advantage of the Singles ’ Day or Double 11, the annual online shopping festival in China in November, to offer substantial discounts. But the promotion dampened the average selling price ( ASP ) of tablet by 2.5% from the previous quarter.
IDC estimated worldwide tablet shipments declined 17.4% YoY in the fourth quarter, totaling 36.8 million units. That is the largest decline in fourth quarter since 2016. For calendar year 2023, worldwide tablet shipments totaled 128.5 million units, a decline of 20.5% compared to 2022 and the lowest annual volume since 2011. For the year 2023, worldwide tablet shipments decreased by 20.5% to 128.5 million units, the lowest annual volume since 2011. Apple managed to retain its top spot in the tablet market, despite a notable decline in shipments for both the fourth quarter ( -29.3% ) and the full year ( -19.8% ) . While this caused some erosion in Apple's 4Q23 market share, its full-year share was stable at more than 37% of the market. Samsung remained in second place with somewhat better results and little change in its market share for the quarter and the year. Xiaomi and Huawei both deliered solid growth in the fourth quarter,--35.0% and 21.2% respectively.
Latest statistics of smartphone shipments have highlighted Apple is facing increasing challenges from Chinese peers led by Huawei. Apple became the leading smartphone vendor in the China with the highest ever market share of 17.3% in 2023, while the overall delivery in China that year totaled 271.3 million units, the lowest annual volume in a decade, according to IDC. Apple maintained the first with a market share of 20.0% in the fourth quarter but shipments dropped 2.1%. That quarter witnessed Huawei returned to the top five ranking after more than two years. With a 36.2% year-over-year increase in shipments, Huawei is the only company in the top five that recorded positive growth in December quarter.
Huawei ranked first in China in terms of smartphone sales during the initial two weeks of 2024, overtaking arch rivals like Apple, OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi, according to a report from Counterpoint Research earlier this month.This is the first time for Huawei ’ s to ascend to the top spot since the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government in 2019 have continuously eroded its sales share.
The Huawei Mate 60 series, powered by its in house Kirin 9000S chip, is a key driver of Huawei ’ s recent success, Counterpoint report said, adding that the strong brand loyalty and the successful launch of the HarmonyOS operating system also fueled the success.While Apple maintained the leadership in the market with its outstanding performance in the first half of 2023, its market share began to be eroded by Huawei and other Chinese brands from the third quarter of the year. Counterpoint also expects Chinese brands will continue their efforts to capture shares in the high-end market.
