عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Technology

Apple’s China Market Share Shrinks as Huawei Surges, Data Shows 

A woman walks past a logo of Apple Inc in Wuhan, Hubei province July 24, 2013. (Reuters)
A woman walks past a logo of Apple Inc in Wuhan, Hubei province July 24, 2013. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Apple’s China Market Share Shrinks as Huawei Surges, Data Shows 

A woman walks past a logo of Apple Inc in Wuhan, Hubei province July 24, 2013. (Reuters)
A woman walks past a logo of Apple Inc in Wuhan, Hubei province July 24, 2013. (Reuters)

Apple's market share in China shrank by two percentage points in the second quarter of 2024, as the tech giant faced intensifying competition from rivals like Huawei, according to data from market research firm Canalys.

The decline underscores the difficulties the US tech giant faces in its third-largest market.

Huawei's smartphone shipments surged 41% year-on-year in the quarter, bolstered by the launch of its new Pura 70 series in April.

The Canalys data, while not providing specific shipment figures for Apple, showed that the company's market share in China dropped to 14% in the second quarter of 2024, a decrease from 16% in the same quarter of 2023.

As a result of this decline, Apple's ranking in the Chinese smartphone market fell from third to sixth place.

Overall, China's smartphone shipments rose by 10% in the quarter, Canalys said. Vivo was the top vendor with a share of 19%, followed by Oppo, Honor and Huawei with 16%, 15% and 15% respectively.

"Domestic manufacturers have demonstrated market leadership, occupying the top five positions in the mainland Chinese market for the first time in history," said Lucas Zhong, research analyst at Canalys.

"On the other hand, Apple faces growth pressure in the Chinese market and is actively focusing on optimizing channel management."

Huawei made a comeback to the high-end smartphone segment last August with the release of a device powered by a domestically-made chip, defying US sanctions that have cut off its access to the global chipset supply chain.

In an effort to boost sales, Apple has ramped up its discounting efforts this year to entice consumers. The US company launched an aggressive campaign in May, doubling the scale of an earlier promotion in February and offering price cuts of up to 2,300 yuan ($318.84) on select iPhone models.

Analysts expect Huawei's strong performance to continue throughout the year. Canadian research firm TechInsights projected earlier this year that Huawei's overall smartphone shipments in China will exceed 50 million units in 2024, with the Pura 70 series accounting for 10 million of those shipments.

That would make Huawei the No. 1 seller with a 19% market share, up from 12% in 2023, TechInsights has said.

Most Viewed

 
 
Technology

Mark Zuckerberg, AI's 'Open Source' Evangelist

FILE PHOTO: Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation at the US Capitol, in Washington, US, January 31, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation at the US Capitol, in Washington, US, January 31, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
TT
TT

Mark Zuckerberg, AI's 'Open Source' Evangelist

FILE PHOTO: Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation at the US Capitol, in Washington, US, January 31, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation at the US Capitol, in Washington, US, January 31, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and CEO of Meta, has become an unexpected evangelist for open source technology when it comes to developing artificial intelligence, pitting him against OpenAI and Google.
The 40-year-old tech tycoon laid out his vision in an open letter titled "Open Source AI is the Path Forward" this week. Here is what you need to know about the open versus closed model AI debate, said Agence France Presse.
What is 'open source'?
The history of computer technology has long pitted open source aficionados against companies clinging to their intellectual property.
"Open source" refers to software development where the program code is made freely available to the public, allowing developers to tinker and build on it as they wish.
Many of the internet's foundational technologies, such as the Linux operating system and the Apache web server, are products of open source development.
However, open source is not without challenges. Maintaining large projects, ensuring consistent quality, and managing a wide range of contributors can be complex.
Finally, almost by definition, keeping open source projects financially sustainable is a challenge.
Why is Meta AI 'open source'?
Zuckerberg is probably the last person you would expect to embrace open source.
The company maintains total control over its Instagram and Facebook platforms, leaving little to no leeway for outside developers or researchers to tinker around.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which an outside vendor was revealed in 2018 to be using the platform to gather user information for nefarious practices, only made the company more protective.
Meta's sudden embrace of the open source ethos is driven by its bitterness towards Apple, whose iPhone rules keep a tight control on what Meta and all outside apps can do on their devices.
"One of my formative experiences has been building our services constrained by what Apple will let us build on their platforms," Zuckerberg said.
“Between the way they tax developers, the arbitrary rules they apply, and all the product innovations they block from shipping, it's clear that Meta and many other companies would be freed up if...competitors were not able to constrain what we could build,” he wrote.
That concern has now spread to generative AI, but this time it is Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google that are the closed-fence culprits that charge developers and keep a tight lid on their AI technology.
Doubters argue that Meta is embracing open source because it came late to the AI party, and is seeking to blow open the field with free access to a powerful model.
What is Llama?
Meta's open source LLaMA 3.1 (for Large Language Model Meta AI) is the company’s latest version of its generative AI technology that can spew out human standard content in just seconds.
Performance-wise, it can be compared to OpenAI’s GPT-4 or Google’s Gemini, and like those models is "trained" before deployment by ingesting data from the internet.
But unlike those models, developers can access the technology for free, and make adaptations as they see fit for their specific use cases.
Meta says that LLaMA 3.1 is as good as the best models out there, but unlike its main rivals, it only deals with text, with the company saying it will later match the others with images, audio and video.
Security threat
In the rivalry over generative AI, defenders of the closed model argue that the Meta way is dangerous, as it allows bad actors to weaponize the powerful technology.
In Washington, lobbyists argue over the distinction, with opponents to open source insisting that models like Llama can be weaponized by countries like China.
Meta argues that transparency assures a more level playing field and that a world of closed models will ensure that only a few big companies, and a powerhouse nation like China, will be in control.
Startups, universities, and small businesses will "miss out on opportunities," Zuckerberg said.