Apple jumps to No. 2 in China smartphone market

Apple and Huawei were the only major smartphone brands to grow shipments in China in Q2 2026, according to a new IDC report. Apple posted the strongest year-over-year growth among the country’s biggest phone makers, with shipments up 24.4%.

That moved Apple from fifth place to second, as its market share climbed from 13.9% to 18.1%. Huawei stayed in the top spot, accounting for 22.6% of smartphone shipments during the quarter.

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IDC said the results marked the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline for China’s smartphone market overall. Total shipments fell 4.3% from a year earlier, to roughly 66 million units.

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Every other major smartphone maker posted a year-over-year decline, with shipments dropping by as much as 60.8%. IDC attributed the broader weakness to rising memory and component costs, fading government subsidies, and softer consumer demand, especially during the 618 shopping festival.

“Both held prices steady while the rest of the Android field raised them, and both layered on targeted promotions. Huawei kept widening its lineup to cover more of the market, while Apple’s early signaling of price increases on its second-half products pulled some buyers forward into the iPhone 17 series sooner than they might have bought otherwise. Strong brand pull helped as well.”

Looking ahead, IDC said vendors have so far been protected by earlier inventories of lower-cost components. As that supply runs down, the firm expects cost pressure to hit harder in the second half of the year.

“[…] as that runs down, cost pressure should land more heavily in the second half of the year. On current trends, the year-over-year decline in China could widen to around 20% in the second half of 2026.”

IDC also said the current slowdown could set up a rebound later, if consumers delaying upgrades return once market conditions improve.