Whereas Apple’s market share could also be slipping in China, the iPhone nonetheless sits atop Japan’s declining smartphone market, accounting for near half of smartphone gross sales within the Asian nation.
Japan’s smartphone market declined 3.5% year-over-year (YOY) on the finish of 2023. Nevertheless, Apple’s iPhone nonetheless holds the lion’s share of it. Apple first topped the Japanese smartphone market 12 years in the past, and the iPhone has continued to be fashionable within the East Asian island nation.
Lately, Apple has been capable of promote between 49% and 51% of all smartphones in Japan. In keeping with a report from IDC, Apple accounted for 51.9% of the market in This fall 2023.
Whereas Apple continued to high the Japanese smartphone market, total gross sales of the handsets fell by 3.5%, to eight.3 million units, in comparison with the identical time in 2022. IDC says all 4 2023 quarters noticed year-over-year gross sales declines, with the fourth quarter being the one quarter to see smartphone shipments exceed 8 million.
“The demand began to enhance within the second half of the 12 months, led by Apple,” mentioned IDC analysts, “indicating a diminishing affect of inflation because of the weakening yen and provider stock changes.”
Even with that This fall enchancment and a “sturdy demand for [Apple’s] iPhone 15 collection,” the shrinking smartphone market noticed Apple’s iPhone gross sales slip 6% in 2023. Apple’s gross sales shrinkage was the smallest decline of any of the highest 5 smartphone makers.
All distributors besides one noticed declining gross sales in This fall 2023 YOY. That mentioned, Apple’s 51.9% share of the smartphone market outperforms the remainder of the highest 5 and all different smartphone makers mixed.
Google was the one smartphone vendor to enhance its gross sales, rising by 527%, from a 1.5% market share in 2022 to a ten.7% share in 2023, which was adequate to place in in third place.
“Japan has been a market the place native distributors have been exceptionally sturdy,” Masafumi Inbe, Market Analyst for IDC Japan mentioned. “Nevertheless, amid intensifying competitors within the smartphone market, native distributors in Japan are progressively discovering it tough to compete with world distributors by way of product growth and competitiveness, together with foldable smartphones and AI smartphones.”
Japanese companies within the high 5 are Sharp, which held second place with a ten.9% market share. Kyocera Group and Lenovo, which incorporates Japan’s Fujitsu, tied for fifth place with 5.4%
Whereas any fall in smartphone gross sales is nothing to cheer about, Japan’s 3.5% decline in This fall 2023 was nonetheless higher than the 7% YOY fall China has seen within the first six weeks of 2024. Apple additionally carried out higher in Japan than it did in China.
In keeping with a Counterpoint Analysis report, after popping out on high in China in 2023, Apple’s place fell to fourth place over the primary six weeks of 2024.
Vivo was China’s top-selling smartphone producer for the primary six weeks of 2024, grabbing an 18% market share. Huawei took second place, and Honor took third place with a 16% share of the smartphone market.
TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo pointed to a shift towards high-end smartphones with generative AI components and foldable designs as causes for the 2024 decline in iPhone gross sales. Kuo additionally says Huawei’s return to the Chinese language smartphone market was one more reason for the discount in iPhone shipments.