The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Apple's iPhone sales in China fell 24 per cent year-on-year in the first six weeks of 2024, according to research firm Counterpoint, as the U.S. company faced increased competition from domestic rivals such as Huawei Technologies. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that Apple's chief competitor in China in premium smart phones, Huawei, saw unit sales rise by 64 per cent in the period, according to the report. This could fan fears of a slowdown in demand for the U.S. company, whose revenue forecast for the current quarter was $6-billion (U.S.) below Wall Street expectations. Shares of the iPhone maker closed 2.8 per cent lower on Tuesday and have lost about 12 per cent of their value so far this year, underperforming their big tech peers in the United States. Counterpoint's report said Apple's share of the Chinese smart phone market dropped to 15.7 per cent, putting it in fourth place, compared with second place in the year-ago period when it had 19-per-cent market share. Huawei rose to second place as its market share expanded to 16.5 per cent from 9.4 per cent a year earlier. The overall smart phone market in China shrank 7 per cent, the report said.