BEIJING, Nov 23 Reuters Apple saw a decline in the number of smartphones sold during China39;s recent Singles Day shopping festival, data from Counterpoint Research showed, lagging domestic rivals Huawei and Xiaomi which recorded robust increases.

The number of Apple smartphones sold declined 4 yearonyear during the twoweek sales from Oct. 30 to Nov. 12, the research consultancy said on Thursday. In comparison, the number of units sold by Huawei HWT.UL and Xiaomi grew 66 and 28 respectively yearonyear over the same period.

The increases for Huawei and Xiaomi helped fuel a 5 yearoveryear rise in the overall number of Chinese smartphones sold during the promotion period, it said.

The price for Apple39;s latest iPhone 15 model starts at 5,999 yuan 832, while Huawei39;s Mate 60 smartphones start from 5,499 yuan 763. Xiaomi39;s latest Mi 14 smartphone is priced from 3,999 yuan 555.

Huawei and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China39;s ecommerce platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com did not release sales figures for the Singles Day festival, having dropped the practice last year, although JD.com said the value of transaction volume of Apple products surpassed 10 billion yuan 1.39 billion on its platform during the period.

A Xiaomi spokesperson said the company achieved cumulative gross merchandise value of over 22.4 billion yuan during the shopping extravaganza.

Analysts have said the Chinese smartphone market is poised to rebound, with research…