China is Apple’s third-largest market after North America and Europe, and mounting data from research firms shows iPhone 15 demand is sluggish after the launch in late September. This comes as Huawei Technologies Co.’s return to the mobile market with the Mate 60 series is a big hit.

Sales of iPhone 15 models in September (launch month) fell 6% compared with the prior year, according to Bloomberg, citing an estimate from market researcher GfK. For the third quarter, a separate report from mobile industry tracker IDC shows Apple’s shipments were down 4% in the quarter. Both reports indicate that the Mate 60 series launch, one week before the iPhone 15 launch, dented sales for Apple. GfK said the Mate 60 series recorded sales of 1.5 million in its launch month, doubling from a year ago.

“Against the backdrop of the strong growth of Huawei, Apple iPhone 15 series registered a 6% decline in sales,” said Hayden Hou, China senior analyst at GfK