China's smartphone market shipments in 2023 hit the lowest record in the past 10 years, with Apple becoming the annual sales champion

The latest quarterly mobile phone tracking report from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that in the fourth quarter of 2023, China’s smartphone market shipped approximately 73.63 million units, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%. It rebounded for the first time after 10 consecutive quarters of year-on-year decline. .

But it should be noted that although the overall market has finally returned to a growth trend, the market performance is still significantly lower than expected. The current market demand mainly comes from high-end people in tier 1-3 cities. For example, the products with better sales are mostly concentrated in the flagship product series of various brands such as Apple iPhone 15, Huawei Mate 60, Xiaomi 14, vivo X100, etc. The sales situation of mid-to-low-end products has not improved significantly, and the replacement demand of mid-to-low-end users who occupy the majority of the market share has not been fully released.

China’s smartphone market shipments in 2023 will be approximately 271 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 5.0%, the lowest shipment volume in the past 10 years. Throughout the whole year, in the first half of the year due to the continued impact of the economic environment and the epidemic, the overall mobile phone market was still in a sluggish stage; in the second half of the year, with the improvement of the economic environment and the increasing interest and attention from all walks of life in the mobile phone market, market demand gradually improved and improved. , but has not yet been fully released. However, manufacturers are still conservative and cautious about shipments, and the overall market performance is difficult to meet expectations.

Market performance of China’s top five smartphone manufacturers throughout 2023

Apple

The fourth quarter and full-year shipments in 2023 ranked first in the domestic market. Although Apple has been significantly impacted by competing products in the domestic high-end market, and its own product upgrades have been limited, resulting in a loss of appeal, it has still attracted more consumer demand driven by substantial price reductions and promotions through third-party channels.

Although it no longer has obvious advantages over Android flagship products, the overall comprehensive product strength of the iPhone is still one of the best. It's just that the prices of Apple products are not as good as before, and channel delivery price adjustments are getting earlier and earlier.

Glory

Ranked first in the domestic Android market in terms of shipments in the fourth quarter and 2023. Following the rapid recovery the year before last, Honor in 2023 will still maintain strong momentum in the face of fierce competition in the market. In the market above US$800, relying on the outstanding performance of folding screen products, the share has increased significantly; in the mid-to-low-end market, we have closely grasped the demand characteristics of offline consumers and created a variety of popular products. The success of its product strategy and improved cooperation with channels helped Honor secure the second position in total domestic shipments for the year.

OPPO

Although the overall market size will decline in 2023, it will still rank third in the market. Among them, it continues to make efforts in the folding screen mobile phone market. With the hot sales of Find N3 Flip, OPPO won the first place in the vertical folding product market in 2023; the horizontal folding product Find N3 performed well, helping OPPO reach a new high in the market share of more than US$800. The Reno series helped OPPO rank first in the US$400-600 market share. OnePlus will buck the trend and grow in 2023, with shipments increasing by nearly 200% year-on-year. At the same time, OPPO is constantly trying more differentiated terminal services to meet the diverse needs of users, bringing more innovative retail experiences to users.

vivo

The domestic market performed steadily. In the fourth quarter, with the concentrated launch of major new products, market performance improved significantly, and many hot-selling products continue to sell well to this day. Among them, with the continuous investment and reputation accumulation of multiple generations of products, the X100 series has helped vivo gain high recognition from consumers in the high-end market, continue to increase orders, and rank third in the market share of 600-800 US dollars in the fourth quarter. The sub-brand iQOO insists on product features in the e-sports scene and stabilizes vivo’s competitiveness in online channels. With a clear product layout, excellent system usage experience, and clear division of labor between the main brand and sub-brands, vivo will continue to develop steadily.

Xiaomi

was the only manufacturer to take the lead in recovering year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter. The Xiaomi Mi 14 series continues the excellent reputation of the previous generation products, helping Xiaomi stabilize its position in the market with prices above US$600. The Redmi K series and Note series are still the main forces driving Xiaomi's shipments. Self-research and comprehensive cooperation with domestic supply chains will effectively help Xiaomi establish its high-end brand image. In the future, the formation of a closed-loop "ecosystem of people, cars, and homes" will make Xiaomi's competitiveness not limited to the mobile phone market.

K-shaped differentiation in price segments continues

In 2023, China’s smartphone market price segments will continue the trend of K-shaped differentiation. The market share of high-end products priced above US$600 reached 27.4%, a year-on-year increase of 3.7 percentage points; at the same time, the share of the low-end market priced below US$200 recovered to 27.5%, a year-on-year increase of 5.2 percentage points.

While high-end consumers maintain their purchasing power, more mid-range users begin to upgrade and choose flagship products to extend the replacement cycle; build a thousand-yuan 5G premium mobile phone, focusing on appearance and ensuring the use of the three major application scenarios of social networking, shopping, and short videos. Smooth, will attract more offline low-end consumer groups.

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