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Shipments to the world's biggest smartphone market totaled 14.5
million units, down 19.9 percent from a year ago, according to
data from the China Academy of Information and Communications
Technology, a government-affiliated research institute.
That is the lowest since February 2013, when shipments to the
China totaled 20.7 million.
Overall consumer purchases typically slow during February as the
Chinese spend much of the month with family celebrating the
Lunar New Year. But shipments this year fell more than usual as
a slowing economy, exacerbated by a Sino-U.S. trade war, hurt
demand for gadgets across the board.
Apple cited slowing iPhone sales in China when it took the rare
step of cutting its sales forecast earlier this year. The firm
then teamed up with China's Ant Financial and local banks to
offer interest-free iPhone financing in its first such move in
the country as it looked to boost waning sales.
Several third-party retailers have also offered iPhones at
discounted prices.
With smartphone sales expected to stay weak, companies like
Chinese market leader Huawei Technologies have aimed to launch
more expensive models to corner higher margins.
In 2018, Huawei's market share of China's $500-$800 device
segment rose to 26.6 percent from 8.8 percent, according to
Counterpoint Research. Apple's share fell to 54.6 percent from
81.2 percent as it launched devices cracking the $1,000 price
point, while others released competitive devices for less.
(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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