BEIJING (Reuters) – Shipments to China of foreign-branded smartphones, including Apple Inc's iPhone, fell 47.4% in November from a year earlier, according to data released on Friday by a government-affiliated research firm, and fell for a fourth month.
Calculations based on data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) showed shipments of foreign brands fell to 3.04 million units from 5.769 million units a year earlier.
The decline follows October's 44.25% year-on-year decline in foreign smartphone sales, continuing a downward trend in the world's largest smartphone market.
Apple, China's dominant foreign smartphone maker, is facing a slowing economy and competition from domestic rivals such as Huawei.
Chinese consumer prices fell to a five-month low in November as economic uncertainty and deflation concerns weigh on household spending.
As its market share falls, Apple launched a rare four-day promotion in China on Thursday, cutting prices on its flagship models by up to 500 yuan ($68.50) to boost sales.
Huawei has emerged as a strong challenger since returning to the premium segment in August 2023 with locally made chipsets.
Apple briefly fell out of the top five smartphone vendors in China in the second quarter of 2024 before recovering in the third quarter. The US company's smartphone sales in China still fell 0.3% in the third quarter from a year earlier, while Huawei's sales rose 42%, according to research firm IDC.
Phone shipments within China, including domestic brands, fell 5.1% year-on-year to 29.61 million handsets in November.
(Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Elaine Hardcastle and Barbara Lewis)
