China smartphone shipments fall 3.3% as Huawei, Apple gain

Premium demand supports margins despite supply and cost pressures.

China’s smartphone shipments fell 3.3% YoY to 69.0 million units in the first quarter of 2026, as strong premium demand from Huawei and Apple helped the market outperform expectations despite rising component costs and supply constraints.

IDC said vendors were shifting from a volume-driven recovery to margin protection, with higher memory and bill-of-materials costs prompting them to reduce exposure to lower-end models and prioritise profitability over shipment growth.

Huawei remained the market leader with 13.7 million shipments and a 19.8% share in the quarter, up from 17.7% a year earlier.

Apple ranked second with 13.1 million shipments and an 18.9% share, whilst posting the fastest growth amongst the top five vendors with a 33.3% YoY increase.

OPPO shipped 11.0 million units, accounting for 15.9% market share, followed by vivo with 10.5 million units and 15.2% share. Honor shipped 8.9 million units, giving it a 12.8% share.

IDC said resilient premium demand, particularly for Huawei’s Mate 80 series and foldable Pura X, as well as Apple’s iPhone 17 line-up, helped offset weaker lower-end demand. Huawei’s Pura X alone exceeded 1.5 million units in shipments, whilst supply limitations held back Apple’s overall volume.

The research firm expects the first quarter to be the strongest period of 2026, with vendors revising down annual targets and keeping tight control of low-end inventory as they balance innovation, cost management, and supply chain resilience amid sustained pricing pressure.