Smartphone Sales in China Surge 26% YoY During 11.11 Festive 2024
Smartphone Sales Grew Due to Longer Promotional Periods
TechInsights Mobile team estimated that the smartphone sales by volume during China’s largest online shopping festival 11.11 (Nov 11) in 2024 rebounded 26% year-over-year (yoy) to 9.5 million units, largely due to the longer sales window. Revenue growth was behind but remained in double-digit zone, due to a lower ASP yoy led by the polarization pattern.
11.11 was initiated online by Alibaba back to 2009, in the name of Singles’ Day in China. However, in recent years, its momentum has largely slowed down due to the saturated online penetration rate, overcomplicated saving rules, more frequent livestream sales throughout the year, and economic downturn headwinds.
Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) of all platforms grew double-digit this year, largely due to longer promotional periods. Taobao, JD.com, TikTok, and Kuaishou started their pre-sales 8-12 days earlier. TechInsights track the sales made between Oct 14 and Nov 11 and compare the results against that during Oct 31 – Nov 11 in 2023. If we exclude the longer sales window factor, we believe 11.11 smartphone sales posted annual decline pattern instead.
Market Share by Vendor: Xiaomi Approached Apple, vivo Surpassed Honor
In terms of vendor performance, Xiaomi closed the distance with Apple, boosted by the growth in entry- to mid-tier segments. By volume, vivo surpassed Honor and ranked the third place. By value, Huawei maintained its third position. Huawei’s ASP was the highest within Chinese vendors.
Market Share by Channel: Livestream Continued to Grow
Channel-wise, JD.com remained the largest platform by both volume and value for smartphone sales, followed by Tmall (including Taobao) and Pinduoduo. Livestream (Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu etc.) continued to expand yoy, taking about 22% market share by GMV. However, again we must address that there was no identical starting date for different platforms this year, making our tracking for reference only.
