Counterpoint: iPhone Grew Q2 Sales and Share in China in Slowing Smartphone Market
25 AUGUST 2022 - There’s another weird note on Apple and Samsung in the smartphone space. Counterpoint Research came out with some numbers Wednesday that kind of hurt my head. That’s partly because of the way they divide things up and partly because… math.
As we’ve heard before, smartphone sales in China were down in the second-quarter of 2022 versus the same quarter a year earlier. Sales of premium phones were also down, though not as much. The top end was down 10% versus the overall smartphone market’s decline of 14%. That disparity actually allowed the premium segment to grow in terms of marketshare, even though sales were lower. For the second quarter, premium phones accounted for 33% of the market, versus 31% for the same quarter a year earlier. But! There’s premium, and then there’s premium. Then there’s another one. Or two. By Counterpoint’s reckoning it goes “affordable premium,” then “premium,” then “ultra premium,” which they proceed to divide into two more categories, like they were making movies about Hobbits or student wizards or something.
While premium phone sales were down, that’s only true of the biggest segment - affordable premium. That’s defined by Counterpoint as phones ranging from $400 - $599. And so, you begin to see how Apple was able to grow sales in China in a big way in the premium space, even while the premium space sank. Counterpoint Research Analyst Mengmeng Zhang is quoted in the release, saying:
Apple did well in the $1,000 and above segment, recording 147% YoY increase, while Samsung also grew 133% YoY. Both these brands benefitted from Huawei’s decline and the shift in purchase trends towards premium phones in China.
Right! Samsung! Taking a look at the top premium smartphone vendors in China, Samsung - is not there, why do we keep talking about them?
Running down the top six premium smartphone sellers for China for the second quarter:
Apple was tops with a 46% share, up from 43% from the same quarter a year earlier
Vivo was second with 13%, up from last year’s 6%
Huawei was third with 11%, down from last years 19%
Honor was fourth with a 9% share, up from the prior year’s 6%
Xiaomi was fifth with 8%, down from last year’s 9%
oppo was sixth with 8%, down from last year’s 13%
That leaves Samsung lumped into the “Others” category, the whole of which made up 4% of Q2 premium phone sales - why do we keep talking about them?
