iPhone grows China market share as price hikes harm Android rivals

The iPhone is one of the bright points of China's contracting smartphone market, seeing massive growth thanks to not raising its prices. iPhone sales in China are doing better than the rest of the market, says IDC. The global RAM crisis is a problem for the entire tech industry and is also affecting consumer spending. However, while Apple fights the same problem as everyone else, it is one of the few winners in China's smartphone market. In a July 14 report from IDC into the smartphone market in China for the second quarter of 2026, the industry is in decline. With shipments at 66 million units for the quarter, that's the fifth straight quarter of decline and a drop of 4.3% year-over-year. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The iPhone is one of the bright points of China's contracting smartphone market, seeing massive growth thanks to not raising its prices. The global RAM crisis is a problem for the entire tech industry and is also affecting consumer spending. However, while Apple fights the same problem as everyone else, it is one of the few winners in China's smartphone market.

In a July 14 report from IDC into the smartphone market in China for the second quarter of 2026, the industry is in decline. With shipments at 66 million units for the quarter, that's the fifth straight quarter of decline and a drop of 4.3% year-over-year. The list of top ten companies by market share has only two companies growing during the period versus the Q2 2025 figures.

Apple was one, but Huawei was the other. Huawei is in first place with a 22.6% market share, managing 19.4% growth. Apple is in second with 18.1%, up from 13.9%, but with a massive 24.9% growth instead.

All other vendors in the list saw their market share shrink. The report offers a different viewpoint to Apple's performance in China. On July 7, Counterpoint said Apple's Chinese sales are down 9% year-over-year, but saw its market share grow to 18%, amid a general 13% market decline.

Pricing strategy As for why Apple and Huawei stood out in the quarter, IDC explains that the period was marred by difficult trading conditions. That includes the memory and component prices, which led to Android vendors raising prices or cutting their configurations. There is also the problem of a fading lift from government subsidies.

It turns out that temporary free money from the government as an incentive to spend money isn't a long-term strategy for success. This was observed during the 618 shopping festival, as IDC says smartphone sales dropped by close to 15% compared to 2025's festival. Apple and Huawei both moved in different ways to the market as a whole.

Both maintained their prices amid a rising field, as well as adding targeted promotions. For Apple especially, its early warnings of price rises later in 2026 helped bring some consumers to upgrade to the iPhone 17 series earlier than usual. That said, the improvement in market share could easily be undone by Apple's inevitable iPhone price rises.

It hasn't done so yet, but it certainly will this fall with the iPhone 18 generation. At that point, Apple's pricing advantage over the Android-based rivals will be significantly reduced. Expect market share reports after that time to comment on the price rises as Apple fights to maintain its new higher market share.

While IDC forecasts that the component cost issue will continue pressuring the market well into 2027, there is light at the end of the tunnel. In the long term, AI-focused hardware has the potential to revive upgrade demand by 2028 or 2029.