According to fresh data released on Friday, Apple became the market leader in smartphone shipments to China last year, despite fierce competition from regional players like Huawei making a comeback.
Market share held by the US tech giant in the second-biggest economy globally was 19%, according to industry data provider Canalys.
Apple’s stellar performance in China last year came after the nation’s zero-Covid policy caused factory production to be slowed down, which negatively impacted 2022 sales.
Its display coincides with Beijing’s hardening of its position toward the company as the US and China’s technological rivalry heats up.
According to media reports from the previous year, staff members at a few Chinese government agencies were told not to use iPhones for work.
The foreign ministry insisted in September that there was no such ban, but said that reports had exposed “security incidents relating to Apple mobile phones”.
During a visit to Beijing in March, Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company enjoyed a “symbiotic” relationship with China.
Coming in behind Apple last year — with annual smartphone shipment market shares in China of 16 percent each — were three local manufacturers: Vivo, Oppo and Honor.
Last year also saw the resurgence of Huawei, a Shenzhen-based tech giant that was once the target of tough sanctions imposed by Washington, which warned its equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage.
“Huawei has become the biggest dark horse (in the 4th quarter), returning to the top five league table of Mainland China’s smartphone market after 10 quarters,” said Lucas Zhong, a research analyst at Canalys.
In August, Huawei released its Mate 60 Pro handset, powered by an advanced domestically produced chip, during a visit to Beijing by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
