Industry analysts have pointed to the absence of advanced AI features – a key selling point in latest-generation smartphones – as a significant disadvantage for Apple in the Chinese market.
Apple suffered a notable setback in China in 2024, losing its crown as the country’s leading smartphone vendor.
According to market research firm Canalys, Apple’s annual shipments in China fell 17 per cent, allowing domestic manufacturers to surge ahead.
Vivo captured the largest market share at 17 per cent, while Huawei secured second place with 16 per cent, pushing Apple to third place with 15 per cent of the market.
Alibaba has become a Chinese AI favourite among investors early in 2025, with its stock price up over 40 per cent so far this year.
The firm in late January released a new version of its Qwen 2.5 artificial intelligence model whose functionality it said surpassed that of DeepSeek-V3, which caused a stir earlier this year for its capability and low cost.
