Apple saw a strong start in China, with iPhone shipments rising about 20% year-on-year in the first quarter, according to Counterpoint Research. The growth comes despite a broader slowdown in the country’s smartphone market, which slipped about 4% over the same period. The performance shows a clear split in the market, where premium devices continued to hold up better than the overall industry, helping Apple gain share in a challenging environment.
The report indicates that China’s smartphone market remained under pressure during the quarter due to softer consumer demand and ongoing cost inflation across components, particularly memory chips. These cost pressures forced several Android manufacturers to raise prices across multiple models, weakening competitiveness in the mid-range segment, which forms the largest portion of China’s smartphone sales. Meanwhile, Apple’s growth was also supported by its established positioning in China’s high-end smartphone segment.
Huawei led China’s smartphone market in Q1 2026 with a 20% share, its highest since Q4 2020, maintaining its position as the top brand. Its growth was supported by improved supply of the Mate 80 series, strong demand during the Chinese New Year, and additional shipments of the Enjoy 90 series. The company also benefited from a 2% year-on-year shipment increase and its reliance on domestic suppliers, which helped offset global memory price pressures.
Apple followed closely behind with around a 19% share, clearly showing a narrowing gap between the two leading brands. However, other major Android players experienced weaker performance during the quarter. Xiaomi saw a sharp decline in shipments of around 35%, while Oppo and Honor also recorded declines of around 5% and 3%, respectively. Vivo was one of the few brands to grow, with shipments rising about 2%.
While China showed resilience in the premium segment, India’s smartphone market slowed sharply, falling to its weakest first quarter in six years with shipments down around 3% year-on-year in Q1 2026, mainly due to weak demand and rising price sensitivity. Even in this downturn, Vivo led the market with a 21% share, followed by Samsung, supported by strong A-series demand and early traction for the Galaxy S26 series, while OPPO grew fastest among top brands with a 14% share driven by budget and Reno series sales. Xiaomi ranked fourth on strength in the ₹10,000-₹20,000 segment, and Apple reached a 9% share driven by strong iPhone 17 series demand and financing offers in the premium segment.
The decline was largely driven by widespread price hikes across more than 80 smartphone models, averaging around 15%, due to rising input costs like memory chips. These higher costs were passed on to consumers, making budget and mid-range phones more expensive.