Source: Counterpoint Research
According to the latest data from Counterpoint Market Monitor, in the fourth quarter of 2021, Apple remained strong in the Chinese market, with a market share of more than 20%. Honor's shipment ranking rose to second for the first time after independence, and the Android camp ranked first, and continued to maintain a strong momentum at the beginning of 2022, reaching a weekly sales share of 17% in January, a record high.
Major mobile phone brands continue to increase the competition for high-end smartphones, and the Android camp may regain part of the market share in the high-end market in 2022.
According to the latest data from the Counterpoint Research Market Monitor, Smartphone Shipments in China fell 11% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021. Competition among manufacturers is fierce, with Apple ranking first and reaching its highest market share ever.
After Honor's strong return, its market share rose to second place for the first time in the Chinese market in the fourth quarter, doubling from the same period last year.
The eye-catching performance of the two manufacturers has led to another major change in the competition pattern in China's market as of Q4 since the first half of the year.
Source: Counterpoint Market Monitor Notes: Shipments data; Xiaomi includes Redmi; OPPO does not include OnePlus; vivo contains iQOO
Thanks to the lower starting price than before, the iPhone 13 series dominates the high-end market.
The continuous explosion of high-end products has promoted the strong return of Honor, and the Honor 50 series has maintained the sales champion in the $200-599 price segment for five consecutive months after its listing.
Vivo's fourth-quarter shipments fell 14% year-over-year and its market share was 16%. Xiaomi ranks fifth, and the share ranking continues to decline.
Source: Counterpoint Market Monitor Note: Shipment data; Xiaomi includes Redmi; OPPO does not include OnePlus; vivo contains iQOO
Heading into 2022, we expect Honor to continue to grow strongly with the help of its new products, including the Honor 60 Series and Honor Magic V. Weekly sales data shows that Honor's sales in the last two weeks of January increased by 32% compared with the previous two weeks. In the week of January 24-30, its sales market share reached 17%, a record high.
Source: Counterpoint Smartphone Tracker Note: Counterpoint Weekly Smartphone Data Caliber uses Sell-Through.
The war on the high-end market escalates
Despite the decline in overall shipments in the Chinese market in 2021, major mobile phone brand manufacturers are still expanding their high-end product portfolios, including Vivo's X70 Pro, Xiaomi's Mix 4, and Honor's Magic3 series and Magic V.
In the Android camp, the Honor Magic3 leads the sales performance. The Magic series has a highly recognizable design and is equipped with flagship hardware configurations such as snapdragon 888. At the same time, Honor's excellent software and hardware integration capabilities also improve the user experience.
The folding screen is another popular option. OEMs can provide differentiated high-end products for the market through folding screen devices. In addition, Apple has not yet entered this field, which means that other OEMs have a first-mover advantage.
Honor launched its first folding flagship Magic V in January 2022. Honor Magic V is currently the thinnest folding screen mobile phone in the industry, the outer screen uses a 6.45-inch OLED screen, reaching the current mainstream main machine screen size, more convenient for users to use daily. OPPO Find N opted for the smaller 5.49-inch outer screen, but was friendly to one-handed holding. Huawei has also launched a 4G folding screen product P50 Pocket, which is intended to attract women and other users with fashion needs.
In 2022, OEMs including Honor, Vivo, and OPPO will continue to try to expand in the high-end market. In addition to folding products, the Android camp will continue to launch more high-end smartphones this year, which is expected to regain some of the high-end market share from Apple.
The battle for the high-end market will not be limited to the Chinese market. OEMs including Honor, Vivo, OPPO and Xiaomi are accelerating the bringing of their high-end products to the global stage. The Western European market has a large number of high-end smartphone user groups, and the region will become a key overseas market for these manufacturers to lay out high-end products. Success in the Western European market has also helped Chinese mobile phone brand manufacturers to enhance their overseas brand image.
In March, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, was a golden opportunity to debut the European market. Mobile phone brand manufacturers, including Honor, Vivo and OPPO, will also bring their latest high-end products and cutting-edge technology to the MWC.