Apple grabs record China market share

Apple has become the top-selling smartphone vendor in China for the first time in six years.

That's according a report by industry experts on Wednesday (January 26).

Counterpoint Research said two key factors helped Apple in the fourth quarter: the impact of U.S. sanctions on major competitor Huawei, and a lower starting price in China.

Year-on-year, Huawei saw a drop of 68% in its unit sales, while Apple's jumped by nearly a half.

The U.S. giant's success coincided with the release of the iPhone 13.

The new model helped Apple reach a record smartphone market share of 23%.

Its unit sales volume grew almost a third even as total smartphone sales fell in China.

The last time Apple was China's top-selling smartphone brand was in late 2015 - just after it launched its iPhone 6.

Over last year as a whole, Apple smartphone sales in China ranked behind only local brands Vivo and Oppo.