Apple Inc. (Apple (AAPL)) managed to claw its way back to the No. 2 spot in China's smartphone market during the 2026 618 shopping festival. The trick? Slashing prices on its latest iPhones. But even with discounts of up to 2,000 yuan (about $290) on the iPhone 17 Pro series, sales still fell from a year earlier.
According to Counterpoint Research, Apple's iPhone sales dropped 9% year over year during the four-week 618 promotional period. That's despite a strong sequential rebound from the previous month. The problem: last year's 618 event saw even more aggressive promotions on the iPhone 16 series, making for tough comparisons.
Apple started its promotions about a month before the festival, combining official discounts, e-commerce platform incentives, and trade-in offers. It worked well enough to push Apple past rivals like OPPO and vivo, but the broader market was in a funk.
China's overall smartphone market shrank 13% year over year during the period, according to Counterpoint. Rising memory prices forced manufacturers to raise prices and scale back discounts, which dampened already soft consumer demand. It's a tough environment for everyone.
Well, almost everyone. Huawei was the standout performer, posting year-over-year growth when no other major brand could. The company grabbed a 21% market share, driven by strong demand for the Enjoy 90 Pro Max and solid sales of the Mate 80. Meanwhile, Chinese Android vendors like OPPO, HONOR, vivo, and Xiaomi all saw double-digit sales declines as they prioritized profitability over aggressive discounting.
Looking ahead, Counterpoint expects China's smartphone market to weaken further in the second half of 2026. Vendors and supply chain partners have signaled that higher prices are likely to stick around, and manufacturers are sticking with a profit-first strategy, trimming shipment plans. Counterpoint now forecasts a double-digit decline in China's smartphone shipments for the full year.
