IDC: Apple's China share rose to 17.8 per cent in Q3 as the market fell 15.4 per cent and Huawei ledIDC: Apple's China share rose to 17.8 per cent in Q3 as the market fell 15.4 per cent and Huawei led

IDC says smartphone shipments in China fell 15.4 per cent year on year in the third quarter of 2026, while Apple's share rose.

The research firm's preliminary figures, published on 13 October and reported and translated by 9to5Mac, put Apple at 17.8 per cent of shipments in China, up from 15.8 per cent a year earlier. Apple's own shipments fell 4.3 per cent year on year and 15.1 per cent from the previous quarter. Like other quarterly trackers, IDC counts phones shipped into the market, not phones sold to people.

How did the main brands do?

Quarter on quarter, Lenovo, Honor and Samsung grew, Samsung by 106.5 per cent. Huawei's shipments fell 17.6 per cent from the second quarter despite its annual growth. IDC says Huawei benefited from a broad range and restrained price rises, and that Apple's new iPhones were received better than expected but shipped slightly less because there were fewer models this year.

Why is China's market falling?

IDC blames rising component costs and retail prices, and expects component costs to stay high for several quarters, pushing prices up and stretching the time people keep their phones.

Our take

The pattern matches the global picture Counterpoint published a day earlier, when it found Apple at a record 22 per cent of a market down 20 per cent. In both, Apple's share rises because it falls less than everyone else, not because it sells more. China adds one difference: Huawei is growing outright, and it is the only brand doing so at scale.

IDC's fewer-models explanation is the same one Counterpoint gave. There is no standard iPhone 18 this autumn, so this launch quarter carried fewer phones than a year ago, while the iPhone 18 Pro's first days in China were strong. APPDOOK's reading is that Apple's Chinese position is stable at the premium end and that the real test comes in spring, when the standard iPhone 18 arrives into a market that has been paying more for less for a year.

These are one firm's preliminary estimates, relayed through one outlet's translation, and IDC often revises its China numbers. Apple reports its own Greater China revenue on 2 November, which will be the better guide.