CAICT does not break down figures for individual brands, however Apple accounts for the majority of foreign mobile phone shipments in China with competitors like Samsung forming only a tiny part of the market.
The figures highlight the mounting pressure Apple is under in the world’s largest smartphone market as it battles rising competition from domestic brands.
Huawei, for instance — whose handset business was crippled by U.S. sanctions — saw a resurgence in the back end of 2023 and has aggressively launched high-end smartphones in China that have proved popular with local buyers.