"Apple led China's smartphone market in Q4 with a 22% share, driven by strong traction for the iPhone 17 series and an accelerated supply ramp. The Pro series, with its distinctive new camera design, and the base variants, with double the storage of last year's equivalent but at the same price, have all seen a strong market response."
"Apple's numbers are particularly strong given that it does not have an artificial intelligence product in the market. Counterpoint reported in the middle of last year that AI had become an important driver of industry shipments. The AI for most phones was based on local offerings, particularly DeepSeek."
"Apple will not have a real AI product until later this year, when the iPhone will include a version of Google's Gemini. It is impressive that the delay clearly has not dented the company's China shipments."
"However, Apple continues to have a problem in China. In its most recently reported quarter, Greater China revenue dropped to $14.5 billion from $15 billion year over year. Yet, iPhone sales worldwide rose from $46.2 billion to $49.0 billion. If Apple can gain market share in China without an AI product, it has a chance to hold its lead once the feature is added later this year."
Counterpoint's Q4 2025 China smartphone shipment data show Apple leading with a 21.8% share, up 28% year over year. Strong demand for the iPhone 17 series, including Pro models with a new camera design and base models offering double storage at the same price, fueled the gain. Huawei's share fell to 14.6% and Vivo's to 15.7%. AI became an industry shipment driver from local solutions such as DeepSeek, yet Apple lacked an AI product during the quarter. Apple plans an iPhone with Google's Gemini later this year. Greater China revenue dipped while global iPhone sales increased.
Read at 24/7 Wall St.
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