When the iPhone 15 went on sale in China, huge crowds were found at Apple's Shanghai (as shown above) and Beijing stores. Yet according to a new Bloomberg report, Apple's new iPhone 15 is selling at a lower rate in China than its predecessor, reflecting stubbornly weak consumption as well as the rise of rivals like Huawei Technologies Co.

Sales of Apple’s flagship device are down 4.5% compared with the iPhone 14 over their first 17 days after release, market tracker Counterpoint Research estimated in previously unreported figures provided to Bloomberg News. Jefferies analysts reckoned sales of the iPhone 15 were down by an even sharper double-digit percentage from its predecessor after Huawei outsold Apple overall, powered by the surprising debut of the Mate 60 Pro.

The twin reports mark a potential blow to Apple at a time it’s grappling with the weakest smartphone demand in a decade and a backlash from overheating models. If the initial estimates are accurate, they represent one of the iPhone’s worst debuts in China since around 2018, when local names like Oppo and Vivo began to captivate Asian consumers.

Counterpoint blamed the iPhone’s slump in China mainly on an economy struggling to rebound from its Covid trough. And it stressed that in the US, the iPhone 15 likely posted a double-digit rise over 2022 in the first nine days of sales.

“The US is hot right now with back-to-back stellar weekends for the new iPhone,” said Counterpoint research director Jeff Fieldhack. “It’s a positive sign from the biggest iPhone market in the world. So definitely takes some of the sting off the China numbers.”

Analysts remain divided about the longer-term impact in China, the world’s largest smartphone arena. Many analysts argue Huawei’s rising prominence could erode Apple’s dominance of the higher end of the market.

Counterpoint estimates the Chinese company could sell 5 to 6 million units of the Mate 60 Pro alone this year. Analysts estimate that could rise to double-digits in 2024. Huawei has now taken the top spot in the market from Apple, Jefferies wrote in a note on Monday. For more on this, read the full Bloomberg report.

In a report by The Elec this morning, they note that Samsung Display's supply of Apple iPhone 15 Pro organic light emitting diode (OLED) in the fourth quarter was found to be 5 million units more than initially expected. In the Samsung Display supply chain, it was reported that the quantity of parts secured for iPhone 15 Pro OLED production in the fourth quarter increased by 5 million units compared to the original forecast.

Yet the report goes on to stated that the increase in Samsung's OLED panel increase may be due to difficulties for China's BOE to deliver the iPhone 15 standard and Plus model OLEDs by the end of this year.

While today's speculation points to a rocky start for the iPhone 15 in China,  shipment statistics for smartphones in calendar Q4 (Apple's fiscal Q1) won't be known until sometime in February or March 2024. Then we'll see if Huawei was able to maintain their lead over Apple in China.