All the marketing campaigns giving China a substantial share of Apple's non-domestic advertising may have finally paid off despite the lackluster sales of iPhone 14 Pro.
The Cupertino tech company and the world's number two smartphone vendor landed in fourth place with 11.3 million units sold in mainland China's Q3 market, slightly behind Honor at third spot, reports Canalys.
Top 5
China's smartphone market has improved from its Q2 record with some 70 million shipments.
Vivo took commanding market leadership with about 14.1 million units sold. OPPO and its cousin OnePlus at second place has both shipped some 12.1 million units, while Honor has 12 million units.
Apple could land higher in the China market, possibly edging out OPPO at second place if the newly-launched iPhone 14 Pro had delivered the expectations.
Xiaomi completed the top five with 9 million units in Q3 of 2022.
Impressive at Fourth Place
Among China's top 5 players, only Apple had its actual smartphone sales grow in Q3, while the overall market dropped by 11 percent year-on-year due to persistent low shipment.
On a quarterly basis, iPhone shipments increased by 36 percent year-on-year amid an economic slump impacting smartphone sales.
MacRumors pointed to surging inflation, fear of recession, and the ongoing in Ukraine have adversely affected consumer demand for electronics worldwide. The smartphone market is expected to slide by 6.5 percent this year or a dismal 1.27 billion units.
China's economy also slowed down, affecting the sales of Apple and particularly, the expected sales of iPhone 14 Pro.
Previous Generation iPhone Fill In The Gap
Where the iPhone 14 Pro has failed in terms of sales, the older and previous iPhone generation may have saved the day. The third-gen iPhone SE and even iPhone 12 and 13 continue to captivate the appetite of Chinese consumers for it.
Probably, the sales of the older iPhones were the engine of Apple's growth in mainland China.
Going into Q4, it is still premature to gauge if Apple can cling to its present market position. If all things remain the same, the Cupertino company may remain a smartphone vendor to reckon with in China.
With the company's aggressive marketing campaigns, it is possible for Apple to make a come-from-behind rally and make blockbuster Q4 sales of its iPhone 14 lineup.
Apple Report
All eyes will be on Apple as the company will report on Thursday, Oct. 27, its earnings for Q3.
The highlight will be on how the Cupertino tech company's iPhone 14 series perform in the market, CNBC reports.
Many investors would like to know if Apple's iPhone series will continue to grow amid economic uncertainty.
While the fundamentals are not immune to macro conditions worldwide, investors believe in the resiliency of iPhone products in terms of revenues, not in volumes of sales.
Investors are looking at Apple's capacity to deliver results at this time of uncertainty, CNBC reports.
Silver Lining
In previous months, Apple said its iPads and Macs, if not weighed down due to shortage of parts, could have helped the company earn $4 billion in sales.
Analysts said these products might spell a difference for the company after it had managed to solve the bottleneck of its supply chain.
Macs and iPads could be Apple's silver lining.
