Apple beats Huawei in China thanks to iPhone 16

Apple (AAPL+0.41%) is back on top of a fast-growing competitor in China.

The iPhone maker had the second-highest share of the Chinese smartphone market at 15.6% in the third quarter, re-entering the top five after falling to sixth place in the second quarter, according to data from the International Data Corporation.

Huawei ranked just under Apple, with 15.3% share of China’s smartphone market. However, Apple’s share of the market shrank 0.3% year over year, while Huawei’s slice grew 42% from 11.1% in the third quarter of last year.

“Huawei has staged an impressive comeback, recording four consecutive quarters of at least double-digit growth,” the IDC said. “The launch of the world’s first tri-foldable phone is expected to further drive the foldable market development.”

Since releasing its Mate 60 Pro series last August, Huawei has made a comeback in China’s smartphone market. Huawei and other homegrown smartphone makers have experienced double-digit growth this year, boosting smartphone shipments in China by 8.9% year-over-year in the second quarter, according to a previous IDC report.

Apple made its comeback on the launch of the iPhone 16, according to the IDC, with initial sales on par with the iPhone 15. The U.S.-based company “anticipates that upcoming promotions and the anticipated launch of Apple Intelligence will drive future demand,” the IDC said.

Overall, China’s smartphone shipments grew 3.2% in the third quarter from the previous year to 68.8 million units — the fourth quarter of growth in a row.

“A significant wave of device upgrades is propelling the sustained recovery of the Chinese smartphone market,” said Arthur Guo, a senior research analyst for IDC China. “Despite ongoing economic challenges, consumers are highly motivated to purchase new smartphones after three years of pent-up demand.”

Apple was topped by homegrown smartphone maker vivo, while China’s Xiaomi and Honor rounded out the top five.

iPhone 16 sales in China were up 20% in the first three weeks of the launch compared with the iPhone 15 series, Bloomberg reported, citing data from Counterpoint Research. And Chinese consumers opted for the more expensive Pro and Pro Max models, according to the data, with sales of those models rising 44% year-on-year.

Earlier this week, Apple chief executive Tim Cook made his second visit to China this year, and told China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong that the U.S. tech giant plans to “continue to increase investment in China, and help the high-quality development of the industrial chain and supply chain,” according to a translation of the ministry’s post on WeChat.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government is in the final review stage for restrictions on outbound U.S. investments in sensitive technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum computing to China, according to a government update. The final rules are expected to be released in the next week or weeks, Reuters (TRI-0.93%) reported.