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Coco Feng

Huawei Technologies claimed the top spot in China’s smartphone market in the first quarter with its highest share in five years, while Apple saw the strongest growth among the top six players, despite a global memory chip crunch.
Huawei held a 20 per cent share in the first three months, the highest since the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a Friday report by Counterpoint Research. Chinese government subsidies that offered a 15 per cent discount for gadgets under 6,000 yuan (US$880), along with promotions during the Chinese New Year in February, supported the strong performance, the research firm said.
The company’s “heavy reliance on domestic suppliers provides a good cost buffer amid the global memory price surge”, the report said.
Last year, Huawei edged out Apple to reclaim the No 1 spot in mainland China’s smartphone market, according to IDC in January.
Apple ranked second in the first quarter with a 19 per cent share, boosted by a 20 per cent surge in shipments, the largest growth among the top six brands. This was driven by “sustained strong performance of the iPhone 17 series, promotional price cuts and government subsidies”, according to Counterpoint Research.

Apple might be the “best positioned to navigate the ongoing global memory crunch, supported by its premium product portfolio and strong supply chain management”, the report said, adding that the American tech giant was “more likely to absorb rising costs internally and expand its market share” in the near-to-medium term.
Huawei and Apple’s progress was achieved despite a 4 per cent year-on-year decline in total China shipments in the first three months because “memory shortages disrupted supply and drove up costs”, according to the new research.
The drop was also due to a “high base effect from last year’s government subsidy programme”, the report said. In January 2025 the Chinese government introduced incentives to boost consumption, offering a 15 per cent discount but capped at 500 yuan per order.
Notwithstanding their boost to Huawei, the impact of the subsidies on overall market growth was “negligible” given that the “magnitude of these discounts was hampered by a sharp increase in memory costs”, said Counterpoint Research senior analyst Ivan Lam.
The research firm expected Chinese market demand to “soften further”, with annual shipments to decrease by 9 per cent this year. However, this would still outperform the global average.
In the first quarter, Oppo ranked third with a 16 per cent market share, which included the company’s two other brands OnePlus and Realme, while Vivo, including its Iqoo brand, took fourth spot with 15 per cent.
Honor, a spin-off from Huawei, and Xiaomi were in fifth and sixth place with market shares of 13 and 12 per cent, respectively. Xiaomi’s shipments, which included the Redmi brand, dropped 35 per cent in the March quarter, the steepest among the top brands, as they did not offer “aggressive promotional cuts”, Counterpoint Research said.
Global memory prices were expected to keep rising, according to TrendForce. Contract prices for DRAM are projected to rise by 58 per cent to 63 per cent in the second quarter compared with three months earlier, while NAND contract prices are expected to increase by 70 per cent to 75 per cent over the same period.
Oppo, Vivo, Honor and Xiaomi have all recently increased prices on certain models to offset rising costs.


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Apple ranked second in the first quarter with a 19 per cent share, boosted by a 20 per cent surge in shipments, the largest growth among the top six brands


Apple ranked second in the first quarter with a 19 per cent share, boosted by a 20 per cent surge in shipments, the largest growth among the top six brands.


Huawei retains lead in China smartphone market, Apple shipments surge in first quarter

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Apple ranked second in the first quarter with a 19 per cent share, boosted by a 20 per cent surge in shipments, the largest growth among the top six brands

Apple ranked second in the first quarter with a 19 per cent share, boosted by a 20 per cent surge in shipments, the largest growth among the top six brands