Apple’s crowning as China’s largest smartphone vendor in 2023 shows market’s huge draw for US multinationals

US tech company Apple for the first time became the largest smartphone vendor-maker in China by shipment last year, with market share hitting a record 17.3 percent, according to an industry report. Apple's crowning also adds to a number of success stories of US companies that have entered the Chinese market and high-profile visits by US CEOs since last year, which observers said all underscore the huge draw of China's rapidly-growing consumer market.

China's status as one of the world's most appealing foreign investment destinations is set to attract more US firms to scale up investment despite geopolitical noises and uncertainties hanging over bilateral relations, observers said. It also serves as a stern reminder to Washington that cooperation - which brings substantial benefits to companies in both countries - should be the mainstream of bilateral relations, rather than instigating tensions and divisions.

According to a report issued by IDC, Apple's success in the smartphone business was partly driven by its price promotions in the third-market channel. 

Honor, a spin-off of Chinese company Huawei, ranked second with a 16.8 percent market share, according to the IDC report. Honor is followed by Oppo, Vivo and then Xiaomi.

US carmaker Tesla also saw its sales in the Chinese market jump, growing 37.3 percent year-on-year in 2023 to around 600,000 units, snapping up the second spot after BYD with a market share of 7.8 percent, data released by the China Passenger Car Association showed. 

Tesla's sales in the Chinese market account for one third of its global shipments last year.   

 "A majority of US tech and consumer firms last year reported rosy performances in China, a market that carries increasing attraction and importance in their global businesses," Wang Peng, an associate researcher with the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday. 

Over the past week, Jensen Huang, CEO and president of Nvidia, another US tech company, was also reportedly visiting Chinese mainland. It was Huang's first visit to the Chinese mainland market in several years, highlighting the great importance he put on the market, which industry insiders said is "too big to simply cede to a competitor."

Before him, prominent US business leaders including Bill Gates and Elon Musk also visited China last year.  

"US companies are increasingly placing their bets on one of the world's fastest-growing markets despite Washington's stepped-up tech crackdown against Beijing. It shows the earnest desire of US business to deepen cooperation with China, which is beneficial for their technological innovation and global development. It is also a strong signal to the US government to make strides to bring bilateral relations back to the right track," Wang said.

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said on Friday that China is willing to make full use of communication and exchange mechanisms with the US. These mechanisms include ministerial talks, twice-yearly meetings at the deputy ministerial level and monthly consultations at the department and bureau level, as well as the export control information exchange mechanism.