While Apple may have been the top smartphone vendor globally in 2024 with 232.1 million units shipped worldwide, it is slipping in one of its most important markets of China, with analysts attributing that to its inability to launch Apple Intelligence there.
According to research firm IDC, Apple had an 18.7% global market share last year, down from 20.1% in the previous year.
It released its AI platform, Apple Intelligence, last year and gradually rolled that out across various markets including Australia where it arrived in December.
However, it has been unable to release its AI tools in China due to local regulatory requirements in that country.
On the other hand, Chinese brands such as Huawei and Vivo, have released smartphones with AI features, and are quickly gaining market share in China.
At the end of 2023 Apple held a 19% market share of mobile shipments according to research from Canalys, but at the end of 2024, Apple had fallen to third position with 15% market share. It was overtaken by Huawei with 16% market share, and Vivo with a 17% market share.
“This past quarter was particularly remarkable for the largest Chinese smartphone vendors: Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Honor, Huawei, Lenovo, realme, Transsion, TCL, and ZTE. They achieved a historic milestone as they shipped the highest combined volume ever in a quarter, representing 56% of the global smartphone shipments in Q4,” said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for EMEA Client Devices, IDC.
Apple’s main rival Samsung isn’t a top-five brand in China, but has had more success than Apple in rolling out its AI tools in China. It has worked Baidu on its AI features, and has recently launched an AI-intensive version of its virtual assistant Bixby only in China, reported Digital Trends.
On January 22, Samsung will launch its new Galaxy S25 series, with Galaxy AI expected to be a major selling point of the lineup.
It isn’t clear when Apple Intelligence will get the green light to roll out in China. One of the areas that it is reportedly working on to comply with local regulations is building partnerships with local companies such as Tencent and ByteDance to develop AI tools that can be rolled out in China.