BEIJING Apple's smartphone shipments in China tumbled 19% in the first quarter of the year, the worst performance since 2020 as its dominance in the high-end segment came under pressure from Huawei's new product launches, market data showed.

Apple's market share in the world's biggest smartphone market fell to 15.7% in the first quarter from 19.7% a year earlier. That put it almost level with Huawei, which saw sales jump 70%, according to research firm Counterpoint.

Apple lost its crown as the biggest smartphone seller in China to local rival Vivo, sliding to third place in the quarter, followed by Huawei whose market share jumped to 15.5% from 9.3% a year earlier. Local rival Honor was in second place.

Huawei last week released its Pura 70 series of high-end phones after launching the Mate 60 series in August. The Mate 60 was seen as a comeback for the Chinese firm in the high-end market and described as a triumph over US sanctions on the company, as the handsets contain an advanced China-made chip.