Huawei grows as China’s smartphone shipments fall 15.4% in third quarter

China’s smartphone shipments fell 15.4% year on year to 57.9 million units in the third quarter of 2026, according to preliminary IDC data released on October 13. Huawei was the only major vendor to record double-digit annual growth, shipping 12.2 million phones and leading the market with a share of about 21%. Apple ranked second with a 17.8% share, although its shipments declined 4.3%. OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi recorded shipment declines of 17.6%, 24.9% and 20.4%, respectively. Honor was the only leading brand to increase shipments from the previous quarter. IDC attributed the market slowdown to rising memory and component costs that pushed up retail prices and lengthened replacement cycles. Huawei benefited from a broad product lineup and relatively modest price increases. Apple’s new phones sold better than expected, but fewer models weighed on its total shipments. [Reuters]