In Q1 2023 Apple's iPhone was number 1 in China – Hong Kong and Mainland China combined. There's been a shift in statistic reporting of late to focus only on Mainland China wherein Apple's rivals hold more market share.

Today, Canalys has published smartphone shipments for Q2-24 for Mainland China only. And because of this, Apple has been fallen out of the top five vendors list. It sure to get Apple's rivals giddy, but in reality it's an unfair practice by analysts by not including Hong Kong stats or publishing a secondary report on Hong Kong. This current method appears to be a marketing move by Canalys to favor Chinese vendors.

With that said, Canalys states that Mainland China's smartphone market experienced 10% year-on-year growth in Q2 2024, with shipments exceeding 70 million units. vivo reclaimed the number one spot by shipping 13.1 million units, capturing a 19% market share. The report notes that "Apple ranked sixth with a market share of 14%." Yet Xiaomi had 14%. Usually when there's a statistical tie both vendors would appear on the chart. Not this time – as they were determined to keep Apple off their chart.

Canalys Research Analyst Lucas Zhong was excited to state that "It is the first quarter in history that domestic vendors dominate all the top five positions." And yet Xiaomi and Apple each held 14% market share. So why wasn't Apple added to the list as usual when there's a tie? A simple margin of error could have Apple in the fifth position. Yet Zhong wanted to announce a "First in History" statistic.

For more on this, read the full Canalys report.  As of this morning, IDC, TrendForce, Counterpoint and other market analysts have yet to publish their findings for Q2-24 smartphone shipments in Mainland China.