Apple drops to 5th place in China’s smartphone market

Even the cheap iPhone isn’t really that cheap.

Yikes. We already knew Apple had a historically bad time last quarter, and it seems things haven’t improved much in the months since. According to a new report from market research firm Counterpoint Research, Apple has dropped into fifth place in China’s smartphone market.

Via Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. dropped to fifth place in Chinese smartphone shipments, losing ground in its biggest overseas market in a fresh blow for the technology giant.

IPhones made up 10.8 percent of devices sold in May, down from 12 percent a year earlier, according to Counterpoint Research. By comparison, Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies Co. increased its lead with 17.3 percent.

[…]

Local brands Huawei, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi are now the top four smartphone makers in China with a combined market share of 53 percent, according to Counterpoint research director Neil Shah. Oppo almost doubled its market share to 11 percent.

Apple had better hope that its forthcoming iPhone 7 inspires Chinese smartphone buyers to whip out their wallets again. If it doesn’t, the company could be facing something nearly unprecedented: a drop out of China’s top five smartphone brands.