China’s smartphone market contracted during the 618 shopping campaign, with sales falling 13% compared with the same period a year earlier, according to figures from Counterpoint Research. The measurement window ran from May 26 to June 21, capturing the extended month-long sales effort centered on the June 18 shopping date.
All of China’s major handset makers except Huawei recorded double-digit year-on-year declines, Counterpoint said. Honor saw the largest fall among the named brands, with sales down 33%, while Xiaomi’s volumes dropped 24%.
Industry participants pointed to higher memory prices as a central factor compressing the scope for promotional discounting. Counterpoint highlighted that a rapid build-out of AI infrastructure has driven up memory costs during the year, lifting overall handset production costs and leaving brands with less room to offer steep 618 markdowns.
“Some older and newer models from Chinese smartphone brands were priced higher than comparable models a year earlier, while discounts during this year’s 618 festival were generally less aggressive, both in terms of the size of price cuts and the range of products covered,” said Ivan Lam, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research. Apple’s prices were broadly unchanged, but its discounts were also smaller.
Huawei emerged as the market leader during the 618 period, capturing a 21% share and standing out as the only major brand to record year-on-year growth, with sales rising 19%. Counterpoint identified the Enjoy 90 Pro Max as Huawei’s top-selling model during the window. The Mate 80 also recorded solid performance, supported by promotional activity.
Apple’s mainland China sales contracted 9% from a year earlier over the same interval, yet the company moved into the No. 2 position after implementing incentives roughly a month in advance of June 18. Discounts on the iPhone 17 Pro series reached up to 2,000 yuan through a mix of official price reductions, platform subsidies and trade-in offers. Still, Apple’s overall sales remained lower than a year ago, in part because the iPhone 16 series saw more aggressive promotions during the comparable period last year.
The 618 festival, which began as a single-day event commemorating the founding of an e-commerce platform on June 18, 1998, has evolved into an extended month-long campaign during which major e-commerce players compete for consumer spending. In recent years, these large seasonal sales events have lost some of their earlier momentum as prolonged discount windows and an overall lackluster consumer mood have dampened demand for discretionary purchases, even when prices are reduced.
Counterpoint noted that while the 618 activity helped smartphone shipments rebound in June relative to May, the market is expected to enter its customary seasonal slowdown afterwards. The research group also indicated that shipments for the full year are likely to record a double-digit decline.
Exchange rate used in the analysis: $1 = 6.7886 Chinese yuan.
Implications for products and pricing
The combination of rising component input costs and more restrained promotional mechanics points to narrower margins and reduced price flexibility for device makers. Brands that can preserve pricing power or selectively deploy promotions appear to have fared better during the period, as exemplified by Huawei’s growth and Apple’s maintained pricing with smaller discounts.