There were unexpected developments in Chinese smartphone shipments in January 2022. While smartphone sales in the Asian country increased during the Lunar New Year holiday, Apple managed to benefit from this increase in China with the iPhone 13 series.
The latest smartphone sales data from China by JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee looks very good for the iPhone. A new report from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, covering January, revealed that iPhone shipments were higher than usual.
Why did iPhone sales increase in China?
International device shipments, mostly iPhones, reached 7.3 million in China in January. This is well above the average of 4.8 million units for January. Chatterjee also states that January 2022 is Apple’s best quarter for smartphone sales since 2015.
January shipments increased 49 percent month on month but still fell 24 percent compared to December. According to Chatterjee, smartphone shipments in China have been averaging 20 percent annually since October 2021.
There was also fierce competition among Chinese brands. While Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo have yet to replace Huawei, it should be noted that Huawei is grappling with US sanctions. The biggest beneficiary of these sanctions is Apple, with a 13 percent market share. Unable to offer new products to high-end markets such as Europe and the USA, Huawei’s confidence in the Chinese market seems to have been shaken.
This performance of Apple in China is due to the success of the iPhone 13 series, which the company launched in the fall of last year. Apple is also expected to announce the next-generation iPhone SE at its event in March.
The analyst points out that although international smartphone sales appear to be booming, the market in China as a whole is below normal. Total mobile phone shipments decreased by 1 percent on a monthly basis between December and January.
How do you interpret this increase in iPhone sales in China? You can share your views with us in the comments section and on the SDN Forum.
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