Canalys: China Smartphone Market Report
In Q2’21, the smartphone market in China shrank by 17% year-on-year, and smartphone shipments reached 74.9 million units.
Among them, the number of manufacturers with over 10 million units shipped has reduced from 5 to 3. Vivo and Oppo are firmly in the top two, with shipments reaching 18.2 million and 16 million units respectively; Xiaomi replaced Huawei as the third with shipments of 12.6 million, and its market share increased from 15% in Q1’21 to 17% in Q2’21. Apple’s shipments ranked fourth, with shipments reaching 7.8 million units. Honor (6.9 million units) rushed into the top five with a strong growth of 40% in the second quarter of independent operation. Huawei fell out of the top five in the Chinese market for the first time in seven years.
“After the prosperity of the first quarter, the Chinese market entered a ‘cooling-off period’ in the second quarter. Q1’21set a new high for the past four years. At that time, major manufacturers hoped to seize market share during Huawei’s decline by actively deploying channels and releasing new models. New machines and sufficient inventory in the market have lowered channel demands. The quarter-on-quarter decline in the broader market in the second quarter is a strategic adjustment.” Canalys research analyst Amber Liu said.
Vivo and Oppo, the new front-runners in Q1’21, maintained their impressive advantages with their pillar products Y series, S series, A series, and Reno series respectively, and they occupied nearly half of the market (46%).
Another brand worthy of attention is Honor. After obtaining its independence, the brand promptly expanded offline channels and laid out resources in the supply chain. The results were harvested in the second quarter and benefited from the market’s approval of its Smooth Play 20 and 50 number series. With this recognition of the series, Honor officially entered a milestone stage. But Honor still has a lot of room for improvements before returning to a higher echelon.
