Sales of foreign-branded smartphones in China, including those from tech giant Apple, declined by 9.7% year-on-year in May, according to new figures from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).
The official data show that shipments for international brands dipped to 4.54 million units.
Apple, the largest foreign player in the Chinese smartphone sector, has been particularly affected by the intensifying rivalry from domestic manufacturers. In response, Apple has aggressively cut prices, with deep discounts of up to CNY 2,530 ($351) on new iPhone 16 models offered across major e-commerce platforms during May.
CAICT did not break out Apple’s performance separately, but analysts note that the company’s fortunes are closely tied to the broader trend in foreign-branded sales.
The overall mobile phone market in China also shrank significantly, with total shipments across all brands down 21.8% year-on-year to 23.72 million handsets in May.
