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Smartphones
AbacusTech

Apple’s iPhone loses out to Huawei in China as locals turn to the Chinese smartphone brand

  • Huawei takes the crown in China with the largest smartphone user base, QuestMobile data shows
  • The iPhone’s retention rate in China tends to be lower than other countries

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Apple staff and customers are seen in a store in Beijing on February 22. Photo: AFP
Karen Chiu

China used to have more iPhone users than of any other smartphone brand. But those days are gone, according to newly released figures from research firm QuestMobile.

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In June, the share of active iOS systems dropped about two percentage points from a year ago, the report said. More than 26 per cent of all smartphone owners in China are now Huawei users, compared with just above 21 per cent using Apple.

China has long been home to a sizeable number of iPhone users, but they have also tended to be less loyal to the brand than users elsewhere, according to research by UBS Evidence Lab.

Apple’s biggest rivals in China are domestic phone makers, which are often better attuned to local tastes. And while Apple has managed to lock in users in Western markets with its far-reaching ecosystem, offerings such as iTunes Movies and Apple Arcade aren’t available in China.

Other pundits, like Stratechery author Ben Thompson, pointed to WeChat’s popularity. The multipurpose app offers the same wide range of services across iOS and Android, whether it’s video calls or mobile payments. Unlike in the US, people in China are far more likely to message each other on WeChat than through iMessage. So green text bubbles are the norm in China, not something to be feared. As a result, the need to stay on iOS is less acute in China.

But iPhone users in China aren’t just more fickle than their overseas counterparts. They’re also less loyal than Huawei users in China.

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