Apple Continues to Struggle in China, Loses Fourth Place to Xiaomi

According to a new report from Canalys, Apple has dropped to fifth place in the Chinese smartphone market behind domestic vendors Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi.

For the full year of 2016, China reached 476.5 million smartphone units shipped, an 11.4% increase over the previous year. Shipments in the fourth quarter were 131.6 million, the highest single quarter in history.

Despite the overall growth of the Chinese market, Apple has continued to struggle in the country. Huawei shipments of 76.2 million units took the top spot in China’s smartphone market in 2016, followed by Oppo with 73.2 million units and Vivo with 63.2 million. Apple meanwhile shipped 43.8 million units, down 18.2 percent year on year.

Apple also lost fourth place to Xiaomi, despite the Chinese maker experiencing declines in the country. Canalys research analyst Jessie Ding said that Huawei’s success in China continued thanks to the strength of its flagship products. Ding said:

“While Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi are all in the process of adjusting their strategies in China, Huawei took the opportunity to consolidate its position in the tier-1 and -2 cities.”

Last year marked the first year where Apple experienced a year-over-year decline in the Chinese smartphone market, with the company’s phones continuing to be outpaced by cheaper alternatives.