Counterpoint Research found that Apple (AAPL.O) sold fewer cell phones during China’s Singles Day shopping event than Huawei and Xiaomi, which witnessed substantial growth.
On Thursday, the research firm said that Apple smartphone sales fell 4% year-over-year from Oct. 30 to Nov. 12. Huawei (HWT.UL) and Xiaomi (1810. HK) sold 66% and 28% more units year-over-year.
It said Huawei and Xiaomi’s boosts helped boost Chinese smartphone sales by 5% year-over-year during the campaign.
The newest iPhone 15 costs 5,999 yuan ($832), while Huawei’s Mate 60 costs 5,499 ($763). Xiaomi’s newest Mi 14 costs 3,999 yuan ($555).
Huawei and Apple did not reply to calls for comment.
China’s e-commerce platforms Alibaba (9988. HK) and JD.com (9618. HK) did not release Singles Day sales figures, having stopped last year, but JD.com said Apple product transactions exceeded 10 billion yuan ($1.39 billion).
According to a spokeswoman, Xiaomi’s shopping binge netted over 22.4 billion yuan.
IDC forecasts Chinese smartphone sales to rise year-on-year in the fourth quarter after ten consecutive quarters of declines.
Major Chinese e-commerce sites offered substantial discounts on Apple’s iPhones before the annual shopping extravaganza, increasing smartphone competition.
Apple unveiled its iPhone 15 series in late September, around a month after Huawei launched the Mate 60 smartphone range with its powerful CPU.
Patriotic Chinese supporters claim the Mate 60 series highlights how Huawei overcame years of US export prohibitions that damaged its smartphone industry.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said that its flagship Mi 14 smartphone series sales had crossed 1 million units following its October debut.
In addition to domestic competition, Counterpoint analysts attributed Apple’s slow performance to supply chain concerns that limited iPhone 15 availability.
In “Apple is improving compared to last month but there still seems to be hiccups in terms of supply,” Counterpoint senior analyst for manufacturing Ivan Lam expects the situation to stabilize shortly.
