2 min learnMar 19, 2026 09:08 AM IST
Apple posted a 23% surge in China smartphone gross sales within the first 9 weeks of 2026, bucking a broader market decline as some Android telephone makers raised costs in response to larger prices for reminiscence chips.
China’s total smartphone market fell 4% year-on-year within the January-to-early-March interval, with authorities subsidies launched in the beginning of the 12 months doing little to revive sluggish shopper demand, knowledge on Thursday from analysis agency Counterpoint confirmed.
Apple’s good points have been pushed by e-commerce reductions and its eligibility for state subsidies on the bottom iPhone 17 mannequin.
The U.S. tech big’s tight grip on its provide chain leaves it higher positioned than rivals to soak up the impression of hovering reminiscence chip prices, and it’s anticipated to carry the road on pricing whereas rivals elevate theirs, the report stated.
“Apple is unlikely to observe go well with, as an alternative absorbing a part of the margin strain and utilizing the state of affairs to doubtlessly increase its market share,” Counterpoint stated.
Amid the rising prices of reminiscence chips, Chinese language Android telephone makers OPPO and vivo have introduced value will increase on some present fashions to take impact this month, a transfer Counterpoint stated is partly designed to gauge shopper response forward of latest product launches and inform pricing for next-generation handsets.
Huawei, in the meantime, may benefit from its reliance on home suppliers, which are likely to cost lower than worldwide reminiscence chipmakers, giving it a value buffer towards rising reminiscence costs, Counterpoint stated, including the corporate is probably going to make use of that benefit to seize extra share in the low-to-mid-end market.
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Counterpoint expects the Chinese language market to keep underneath strain from March by Could, with some aid in early June when China’s mid-year “618” buying pageant usually unleashes a wave of promotional exercise.
The broader reminiscence value crunch is forecast to persist all through 2026, forcing handset makers into tough trade-offs between managing prices, defending margins and hitting cargo targets.