Huawei ignited the year-end smartphone war.
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Author | Huang Yu
Editor | Wang Xiaojuan
Nearly two months after Apple and various domestic mobile phone brands launched their annual flagship phones, Huawei finally arrived, pushing the 2025 year-end phone battle to a climax.
On November 25, Huawei finally unveiled its annual flagship Mate 80 series. Against a backdrop of continuous storage chip price increases in 2025, which led many phone manufacturers to raise prices, the starting price of the standard Huawei Mate 80 is only 4,699 yuan, 800 yuan less than the previous generation Mate 70 series at 5,499 yuan.
This undoubtedly made some domestic phone brands nervous. Among domestic high-end flagship phones, the Huawei Mate series has always been the most expensive, with the starting price of Mate 50, 60, and 70 series all at 5,499 yuan.
This time, besides the 800 yuan drop for the standard Mate 80, the starting price for the Pro and Pro Max versions also decreased by 500 yuan compared to the previous generation.
With this price reduction, Huawei's intention is clear: to win over more consumers and regain more market share.
Unlike the “sold before announcement” of the Mate 60 series and Pura 70 series that sparked heated market discussions, the Huawei Mate 80 series — like the Mate 70 series — has lost the halo of the first comeback of Huawei 5G phones. This made it difficult to replicate the market buying frenzy during the sudden launch of the Mate 60 series in 2023.
Meanwhile, as Huawei's biggest competitor in the high-end market, Apple's new iPhone 17 series performed very strongly after launch thanks to its high cost-effectiveness. Xiaomi, which has been attacking the high-end market, also saw impressive sales with its recently launched Xiaomi 17 series.
Counterpoint data shows that in the first month following the launch of the iPhone 17 series and Xiaomi 17 series, Apple’s and Xiaomi’s sales in China increased by 22% and 21% year-on-year, respectively.
In October, Apple’s smartphone sales in China increased by 37% compared to last year, ranking first with a 25% market share; Xiaomi was second with a 17% market share, its first time ranking second domestically in more than ten years.
Reportedly, this is also Apple's best performance ever in the fourth quarter; its total sales have already far surpassed the historical record set in October 2021. That month, one in every four smartphones sold in China was an iPhone—such an iconic achievement only occurred once before in 2022, when Apple faced relatively few competitors in the high-end market and Huawei was in a dormant phase.
“This year, both Apple and Xiaomi’s new releases came before the Mid-Autumn Festival, further boosting sales and showing clear improvements over last year,” said Counterpoint senior analyst Ivan Lam. “This season, consumers pursue high cost-effectiveness and expect innovative highlights, which Apple and Xiaomi’s latest products have delivered.”
Lam pointed out that entering November, iPhone sales momentum remains strong, and Apple is likely to set its best quarterly performance ever in December. Currently, Apple’s growth momentum is extremely strong, without signs of obvious slowdown, making a sharp decline unlikely.
Such a market situation undoubtedly increases pressure for Huawei, which is working to reclaim the throne.
After firing the first shot of its comeback in 2023, Huawei phones entered a major counterattack stage to reclaim the top spot domestically, with significant improvements in both sales and rankings as more product lines returned to 5G over the past year.
IDC data shows that in 2024, vivo ranked first in annual shipments with a 17.2% market share. Huawei did not return to first place domestically in 2024, but ranked second in China with a 16.6% market share, its shipments up over 50% year-on-year—the highest increase among top brands. Honor fell to fourth place.
Industry insiders have long expected Huawei to reclaim first place this year, with some executives believing it is inevitable.
However, IDC data indicates that although Huawei regained first place in shipments in the first half of the year, its performance weakened in the third quarter, slipping to third place.
Counterpoint pointed out that sales of the Huawei Mate 70 and Pura 80 series lagged behind previous generations, while the Nova 14 series continued strong performance. However, with its newly launched HarmonyOS NEXT (pure HarmonyOS) still facing breakthroughs in ecosystem development, Huawei faces challenges.
This means that the market performance of the Mate 80 series, which also features pure HarmonyOS (HarmonyOS 6), will be key to whether Huawei can turn the tide in the fourth quarter and claim the “crown” for the year.
However, in such fierce market competition, for the Mate 80 series to surpass its rivals, Huawei must demonstrate enough sincerity.
Aside from price, the Huawei Mate 80 series is equipped with a Kirin chip and HarmonyOS 6, upgrading performance, AI, camera, battery life, and more.
Counterpoint stated that market sentiment and expectations for the Huawei Mate 80 series are running very high. But it must be acknowledged that compared to the just-returned Mate 60 and Mate 70 series, the Mate 80’s breakthrough potential is limited.
This year-end battle is bound to be explosive, and all manufacturers must go all out with more effective strategies to hold their market share, or risk being squeezed into the “Others” category.
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