Canalys: China's smartphone shipments reached 78.8 million units in Q3 2021, a year-on-year decrease of 5%

In the third quarter of 2021, smartphone shipments in China fell 5% year-on-year to 78.8 million units. Market leader vivo consolidated its position with 18.3 million units shipped and a 23% market share. OPPO, which has now merged with OnePlus, ranked second with 16.5 million units shipped. Honor entered the top three for the first time, with its market share soaring from 9% in the second quarter to 18% in the third quarter. Xiaomi ranked fourth with 10.9 million units shipped amid tight supply, while Apple rounded out the top five with 8.3 million units shipped.

Canalys analyst Toby Zhu said: "After a weak second quarter, new product launches stimulated China's smartphone market in the third quarter. Honor and Apple took the lead in this regard. Honor was the most outstanding supplier this quarter, achieving 105% sequential growth driven by the Play 20, X20 and flagship 50 series. Supported by its extensive channel partnerships, Honor is successfully upgrading Huawei users. Honor is now sending a clear signal that the brand has returned after its separation from Huawei, and these signals will go beyond China and affect the world. Apple launched the iPhone 13 as expected, but more aggressive pricing helped drive demand for its new smartphones. As the second-generation 5G iPhone, the 13 series has a strong appeal to China's large 4G iPhone user base. As a result, both order volumes and early pre-orders were high, with many customers choosing to wait for weeks for delivery."

Amber Liu, analyst at Canalys Research, said: "The strategic value of smartphones is no longer limited to unit share and revenue. Vendors now view the entire smartphone ecosystem, including software and services, as an important measure of success. Hardware margins are under pressure, but maintaining and expanding market share remains critical for vendors. One novel approach is through demographic-based product segmentation. As a result, products such as Xiaomi's Civi, OPPO's K9s, Honor's 50 series, vivo's IQOO8 series and realme's GT Neo are becoming increasingly popular among female users, gamers, vloggers, online shoppers and Gen Z. The marketing messages behind these products are very clear and have a clear target audience group. This product strategy has won widespread consumer attention and stimulated upgrades."