China Phone Sales Slump to 2012 Levels as Apple Gains Ground

Apple moved into second place in China's smartphone market during the third quarter of 2026, a period that saw the country's overall shipments sink to their lowest level in 14 years, according to a report from Counterpoint Research. Shipments across the industry fell 10% from the same quarter last year, pressured by climbing memory prices.

Apple captured an estimated 19.5% of shipments in the country, up 4.8 percentage points from a year earlier. That gain carried the company from sixth place to second, behind only Huawei.

Huawei held 21.3% of the market, a rise of 5.3 points year over year. The two companies were the only ones among the six leading brands to grow their share during the quarter. Vivo slipped 2.8 points to 15.2%, OPPO fell 1.3 points to 15.1%, Xiaomi dropped 1.6 points to 13.5%, and HONOR declined 2.2 points to 12.7%. Smaller manufacturers combined fell 2 points to 2.8%.

Counterpoint attributed part of Apple's rise to the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, saying the series "saw a strong launch in China." Sales in the first three weeks ran 23.5% ahead of the iPhone 17 Pro series over the same span a year earlier. The research firm also suggested the delayed arrival of the base iPhone 18 may have pushed some buyers toward the Pro models early on.

A separate IDC report issued a few days earlier painted a steeper picture of the downturn, though its numbers differ from Counterpoint's. IDC put China's third quarter shipments down 15.4% year over year, with Apple's share at 17.8% even as its own shipments fell 4.3%. IDC also estimated a record 22% drop worldwide in the quarter, with Apple posting the smallest decline among the top five makers at 4%.

Counterpoint expects conditions to stay tight. Higher prices are leading some buyers to postpone upgrades, wait for sales events or turn to refurbished devices, a pattern that could weigh on demand further in the fourth quarter.