Huawei sales jumped 42.4 per cent during the one-month 618 sales period that started May 20, according to Counterpoint, which attributed the rise to continued strong demand for the company’s latest handsets, including those from the Mate 60 and Pura 70 series that run on China-made chips. The company also offered the smallest price discounts relative to major rivals, Counterpoint said.
Apple has been able to defend its position ahead of Huawei by offering its largest-ever discounts for iPhones in China, helping to boost sales by 2.7 per cent year on year amid intensifying competition in the premium segment. Counterpoint figures put Apple as the second-best seller by sales volume for the period, behind Vivo and ahead of Honor, Xiaomi and Huawei.
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The 618 festival is China’s biggest shopping season after Singles’ Day. Amid a sluggish economy, e-commerce operators sought to attract more consumers this year by cancelling the traditional presale stage and extending the promotional period, which ran through June 20.
Total smartphone sales volume for the 32-day period grew 6.8 per cent compared with the same period in 2023, according to Counterpoint. The sales performance indicates a warm-up in demand, Counterpoint said, adding that it anticipates low single-digit year-on-year growth for China’s smartphone market this year.
Estimates from TechInsights are more pessimistic. It reported a 2 per cent decline in smartphone sales volume to 13.1 million units during the 618 festival. It expects the market to stay flat at 62.3 billion yuan (US$8.6 billion) this year.
Slower growth in online shopping and the rapid rise of live-streaming e-commerce have made the traditional sales campaigns associated with shopping festivals less attractive to consumers, TechInsights analyst Peng Peng wrote in a report.
“Escalated worries about the downturn of China’s economy”, including in the real estate and job markets, are also holding back consumer spending, Peng added.
While Huawei saw the biggest growth in sales, Apple remained king in terms of sales volume and value, according to TechInsights.
Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max emerged as not only the most popular models in the 6,000 yuan price range, but also across all segments on the e-commerce platform JD.com. It is the latest indication of Apple’s continued dominance in China’s premium smartphone market, Peng wrote.
Huawei came in third by sales value, after Xiaomi, and is growing as a major challenger in the high-end market, TechInsights data showed.
China’s major e-commerce platforms saw gross merchandise value grow 13.6 per cent year on year during the 618 shopping festival, according to research firm Analysys. However, companies have largely stopped publishing their own sales figures for big shopping festivals.
