The milestone coincided with the release of the iPhone 13,
and amid otherwise stagnant demand for handsets as chief rival Huawei market
share declined.
Apple's smartphone market share reached 23 percent, a record
for the brand. Its unit sales volume grew 32 percent year-on-year in the
quarter, while total smartphone sales in China fell 9 percent, according to
Counterpoint.
Counterpoint analyst Mengmeng Zhang cited a lower starting
price in China and the impact of US sanctions against Huawei, Apple's main
competitor in the high-end segment, as factors.
Apple last ranked as China's top-selling smartphone brand in
late 2015, just after the company launched its iPhone 6, which attracted
Chinese consumers with their large screens.
In 2021 as a whole, Apple ranked as China's third
best-selling smartphone brand with 16 percent of the market.
Vivo and Oppo, two Android handset brands under the
privately-owned BBK Electronics, ranked first and second with 22 percent and 21
percent respectively.
Year on year, Apple's unit sales rose 47 percent while
Huawei's tumbled 68 percent. Overall smartphone sales in China fell 2 percent,
according to Counterpoint.
Lengthening upgrade cycles have presented an ongoing dilemma
for Chinese smartphone brands looking to maintain growth at home, as consumers
delay purchasing new devices.
A global chip and component shortage has meanwhile rattled
the entire electronics industry, affecting pricing and margins for all hardware
makers. © Reuters
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