China smartphone shipments fall for fifth straight quarter as Huawei, Apple grow

China’s smartphone shipments fell to about 66 million units in the second quarter, down 4.3% from a year earlier, marking the fifth straight quarterly decline in the country’s biggest consumer-tech market. International Data Corporation said the drop came as higher memory and component costs forced many manufacturers to lift prices, a move that cooled upgrade demand and left the market leaning harder on premium buyers.

Huawei Technologies and Apple stood out as the only major brands to post quarterly growth. Huawei’s shipments rose 19.4% from a year earlier, while Apple’s climbed 24.4%. Huawei held a 22.6% market share in the quarter and Apple took 18.1%, underlining how sharply the market has split between premium brands and the rest of the field.

The pressure on mass-market Android makers was more severe. Xiaomi, which ranked fifth, saw shipments fall 21.7% in the quarter. Oppo’s shipments dropped 9.7%, and Vivo’s fell 11.4%. Arthur Guo, an IDC analyst, said Huawei and Apple benefited from steadier pricing while rivals were pushed to raise prices, giving hesitant consumers fewer reasons to upgrade in a weak market.

The second-quarter decline extended a downturn that was already visible earlier in the year. IDC said China’s smartphone shipments fell 3.3% year over year in the first quarter of 2026 to about 69.0 million units, with strong premium demand from Huawei and Apple offsetting broader weakness. IDC also described that period as a shift toward margin protection, with vendors cutting back on low-end exposure and focusing more on profitability as memory and bill-of-materials costs rose.

The latest figures also built on a turn that began in 2025, when China’s market fell 4.0% year over year in the second quarter to 69.0 million units, its first contraction after six consecutive quarters of growth. IDC linked that earlier slowdown to limited government-subsidy support and said many manufacturers adjusted shipment pace and channel inventory around the 618 online shopping festival.

The latest slide matters well beyond China. As the world’s largest smartphone market and a major demand center for components, weaker Chinese shipments can ripple through chip suppliers, retailers and app ecosystems. The numbers point to a market in which replacement cycles are lengthening, price sensitivity remains high and even premium growth is no longer enough to offset a broad retreat in lower tiers.