Apple isn’t getting too many positive headlines in China from iPhone sales. An approximately 19% decline in iPhone sales was reported in China last week, according to a Counterpoint Research analysis.

Apple’s market share declines to fifth place in China details

Apple may now be down to fifth place in the Chinese smartphone market, according to a report from Canalys. As far as the leading smartphone brands in China go, Canalys says Apple has declined the most.

At 17% of the market, Huawei regained its position as the leader after 13 quarters. Thanks to its well-liked Mate and Nova series, the local vendor supplied 11.7 million smartphones; OPPO, with 10.9 million units shipped, rose to second place.

With its Chinese shipments plunging 25% to over 10 million, it fell from first position to No. 5. Vivo’s and Oppo’s domestic market shipments decreased by 9% and 14%, respectively. Honor, which was formerly Huawei’s low-cost smartphone brand before being split out in 2020, saw 9% growth in the local market.

This occurred at a time when the global sales of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, which were released in September of last year, were beginning to decline. Since Apple is anticipated to reveal the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max in September, it seems unlikely that those sales will rise once again.

They will probably hope that those phones may spark sales once more. But since Apple only produces new iPhones once a year, it is unrealistic to anticipate that the momentum from a September launch will last the entire year.