A shift of power that we saw on the worldwide stage also happened in China, the largest smartphone market globally. Apple became the leading smartphone company in China for the first time with record high market share of 17.3% in 2023.

While the Chinese smartphone market remains challenged, it is moving towards recovery with the fourth quarter of 2023 (4Q23) delivering year-over-year growth of 1.2% on shipments of 73.6 million units, marking the end of ten consecutive quarters of year-over-year decline. The resilient high-end consumers in the tier 1-3 cities were the key drivers, fueling demand for flagship products. Meanwhile, demand for low- to mid-range devices remained weak, impeding the overall growth of the market as they represent over half the smartphone market in China.

"Apple's climb to the top spot in 2023, especially in light of renewed competition from Huawei and the soft spending sentiment, marks a tremendous success for Apple," said Arthur Guo, senior research analyst in Client System Research for IDC China. Guo further noted that "Apple achieved this thanks to timely price promotions in its third-party channels, which stimulated demand.

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More importantly, Apple finished first in the final quarter of 2023 despite the press pushing Huawei's big come back.

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