Honor Reclaims Top Spot in China Smartphone Market

Honor has reclaimed the top spot in China’s smartphone market, according to recently released Q3 performance reports. Market share analysts Counterpoint, Canalys, and IDC have reported a modest decline of 3%, marking the second consecutive quarter of decline.

The battle for the most units shipped remains fierce in Mainland China, with Honor surpassing Vivo to secure a market share of 18.3% and experiencing 3% year-over-year sales growth.

The resurgence of Honor can be attributed to the successful launches of the Honor 90 and Honor X50 smartphones, as well as the strong performance of the company’s foldable models. The Honor Magic V2, in particular, ranked first among all foldable models in Q3 2023 in China.

Huawei has also seen record year-over-year growth of 37% thanks to increased interest in the Huawei Mate 60 Pro and the return of the in-house developed Kirin chipset. This growth has put Huawei in close competition with Xiaomi, with a market share of 14% for Xiaomi and 12.9% for Huawei, making the market dynamics even more complex.

Despite the launch of the iPhone 15 series in Q3, Apple experienced a double-digit decrease in sales. According to senior analyst Ivan Lam, this decline can be attributed to the fulfillment of demand for older iPhone models in Q1 and Q2 due to earlier-than-expected price cuts, as well as initial supply constraints for the iPhone 15 series.

Analysts are optimistic that the smartphone market in China is nearing a bottom and that a potential recovery is on the horizon.