Foreign Brand Mobile Phone Shipments in China Surge 66.3% YoY in June
Miles Bennett
Foreign-brand phone shipments in China surged 66.3% year-on-year to 3.28 million units in June, even as the overall market shrank 15.3% — a divergence that says more about domestic brands' pressure than about foreign brands' strength.
How big was the foreign-brand jump?
Data from CAICT (中国信息通信研究院) shows foreign brands shipped 3.28 million handsets in June, up 66.3% year-on-year.
Apple is among the major foreign brands; Reuters calculated the figure from CAICT's raw data.
This means → foreign brands sold roughly 1.3 million more units than a year ago, far outpacing the broader market.
Why did the overall market shrink instead?
Total Chinese handset shipments fell 15.3% to 19.15 million units in the same month.
In plain terms = the pie got smaller, but the foreign-brand slice got bigger.
This reflects heavier downward pressure on domestic brands — the gap between foreign and domestic momentum is unusually wide.
Can this divergence last?
Whether foreign brands can sustain a 66.3% growth clip depends on two variables: Chinese consumer demand trends and domestic brands' competitive response.
This means → one month of data cannot confirm a trend — a wave of domestic new-model launches in the second half could reset the picture quickly.
The signal for now: foreign brands are gaining ground in China on a cyclical basis, but durability remains unproven.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.