China is proving to be a harder market to crack than Apple anticipated.
The iPhone-maker has dropped to fifth place in its second most important market, marking yet another setback for Apple in China.
Huawei Technologies increased its lead of the overall marketshare in China to 17.3 percent, according to a new report from Counterpoint Research first spotted by Bloomberg.
Apple’s share of devices sold in May dropped from 12 percent in 2015 to 10.8 percent in 2016. The top four spots are all taken by local Chinese brands, Huawei, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi. The four have a combined marketshare of 53 percent, after Oppo nearly doubled its marketshare to 11 percent and overtook Apple.
Tim Cook has increasingly stressed the importance of China for Apple despite the country’s economy hitting a rocky patch. The company currently has 36 Apple Stores open in China with more on the way.
Along with slumping iPhone sales in China, Apple has also been hit with a number of legal battles. One company has sued for a ban on iPhone sales, while the country’s media watchdog is taking Apple to court over an old Chinese propaganda war film from the 90s.
