TechInsights: China accounts for 24% of iPhone shipments in Q2 2023, surpassing the United States to become the largest iPhone country market

According to data analysis by global market research firm TechInsights, China became the world's largest iPhone market in the second quarter, surpassing the United States for the first time in history. According to the research company's Global Shipment Report, in the second quarter of 2023, China accounted for 24% of iPhone shipments, while the US market accounted for 21%.

The second-quarter slump in the US smartphone market was said to be caused by consumers delaying purchases of new phones in anticipation of new iPhones to be released in the second half of the year. However, TechInsight said the results also reflected "China's [growing] economic strength, its burgeoning middle class and Chinese consumers' preference for high-end phones."

It is well known that Asian consumers have always preferred large-sized smartphones, and another analysis suggests that this factor may have boosted the overall sales of the iPhone 14 Pro Max model. According to the Q2 23 smartphone model market tracking report released by Omdia, Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max shipped 26.5 million units worldwide between January and June, making it the most shipped model among all manufacturers. The iPhone 14 Pro ranked second with 21 million units shipped.

Due to the sluggish mid- and low-end smartphone market, products from Chinese manufacturers saw a double-digit decline in 2022, and there are no products from Chinese manufacturers in the top 10 this year.

Last year, the iPhone 13 was the best-selling device on the market, indicating that consumers preferred entry-level rather than high-end devices. Since then, the market landscape seems to have changed, with successive smartphones offering incremental upgrades rather than sweeping changes, and consumers' increasingly sluggish sentiment has prompted them to move to higher-end models.

This trend is expected to continue, and Apple may reverse this year by further differentiating its iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro product lines. Not only is Apple expected to keep the new, more powerful A17 processor exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro, but it is also expected to keep the periscope zoom lens technology on the high-end iPhone 15 Pro Max to differentiate the higher-end models.

From cnBeta