According to study, China’s smartphone market is still weak, while Southeast Asia’s is growing rapidly this year.

Senior analyst Ivan Lam stated in the research that other reasons have kept the market down, even though the unusually strong sales at the beginning of 2023 exacerbated the decrease in sales in China.

“In order to stabilize the market, consumer confidence must increase, but given everything that is going on right now, particularly in the real estate sector, it is a difficult call,” he stated.

Apple has suffered a setback, with its smartphone exports to China falling by 24% in the first half of the year, according to

But as smartphone sales slow down in developed nations like the US and China, high-end phone manufacturers like Apple and Huawei are turning their attention to developing but still developing regions like Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia’s phone market is expected to rise by 7% year over year in 2024, according to research from Canalys—much faster than the global average of 3%. North America’s market is expected to remain flat, while China’s economy is expected to expand by 1%.

Bloomberg reports that plans are already underway for Apple to open its first retail outlet in Malaysia. In the meantime, Huawei has been deepening its relationships with partners in Southeast Asia, including Telkomsel, an Indonesian telecommunications provider.

According to Canalys research, with 38% of shipments in January, Indonesia continued to be the largest smartphone market in Southeast Asia. The Philippines, the second-biggest market, had the strongest growth, with exports rising 77% in January over the previous year.

Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand were the next three biggest markets, in that order. The only nation to see a 2% decrease in shipments year over year was Vietnam.

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