Apple reached second place with a 15.6 percent market share, though down 0.5 percentage points year-on-year, while Huawei claimed third place with 15.3 percent, gaining 4.2 percentage points, showed data from researcher IDC on Friday.

Vivo, which primarily sells budget phones, was the top vendor with a market share of 18.6 percent.

The contrasting performances follow Huawei's comeback last year in the premium segment with its Mate 60 series, featuring what analysts said is a domestically produced chip.

The Chinese tech giant further challenged Apple's position with its latest Pura 70 model released earlier this year.

Apple has faced additional headwind in China, including restrictions on iPhone use by some government agencies. 

The US tech giant has since responded with multiple discount campaigns to boost sales.

The third-quarter performance was partly helped by the new iPhone 16, which went on sale on Sept. 20. On the same day, Huawei launched a competing product- a tri-foldable phone.

The new iPhones got off to a strong start in China, with sales 20 percent higher in the first three weeks since launch compared with the 2023 models, showed separate data from researcher Counterpoint.

"With its annual new product launch, Apple returned to China's top five market rankings with a 15.6 percent market share," IDC said.

"With subsequent increases in market promotions and the launch of Apple Vision Pro, the market demand for the iPhone 16 series is expected to gradually materialise in the future."

Overall, China smartphone sales for the third quarter rose 3.2 percent to 68.78 million units.