Apple topped China’s smartphone market in Q4 2021, with sales surging on the release of the iPhone 13 and rivals registering declines, figures from Counterpoint Research showed.

The iPhone maker’s sales grew 32 per cent year-on-year, pitching it ahead of Huawei, Vivo and Oppo, the top-three vendors in Q4 2020. Apple’s market share increased from 16 per cent to 23 per cent.

Counterpoint Research stated it was the first time Apple topped the China tables since the final quarter of 2015.

Research analyst Zhang Mengmeng stated Apple’s gains were driven by a mix of its pricing strategy and gains from Huawei’s premium base.

Vivo and Oppo each recorded 6 per cent declines in sales, Honor’s increased 50 per cent and Xiaomi’s 2 per cent.

Huawei fell out of the top five, with sales down 73 per cent and market share dropping from 23 per cent in Q4 2020 to 7 per cent.

Overall sales fell 9 per cent and four out of five smartphones sold were 5G capable.

Senior analyst Ivan Lam said the continued decline is due to factors including component shortages, longer replacement cycle and lacklustre domestic spending.

Full year sales were 2 per cent lower.

Counterpoint Research expects smartphone ASPs to continue to rise as vendors seek to counter declining sales.