Mubasher: Apple’s Chinese iPhone sales plunged at the end of last year, indicating the scale of the US giant’s retreat in the world’s biggest mobile device market against rivals like Huawei.

Apple’s smartphone shipments to China dropped 19.9% year-on-year in Q4-18, while its market share shrank to nearly 11.5% from 11.8%, a closely-watched industry report published by International Data Corporation (IDC) said.

A slowdown in economic growth, higher prices and lengthier replacement times kept Apple’s major products on shelves worldwide.

Meanwhile, Huawei’s market share expanded to just under 30%, owing to a 23.3% surge in its shipments in the three-month period ended last December.

OPPO and vivo saw the second and third in the list, as smartphone giants recorded a 1.5% and 3.1% increase in shipments, respectively.

OPPO’s market share came in at 19.6%, while vivo’s accounted for 18.8% of the market.

For Xiaomi, shipments dropped 34.9% in the fourth quarter of last year, with a market share of 10%.