Apple’s smartphone market share in China continued to fall in May, dropping to 10.8 per cent and putting it in fifth place behind fast-rising domestic makers Vivo and Oppo, according to Counterpoint Research.

Huawei, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi were the top four smartphone vendors in China in May with a combined market share of 53 per cent. Huawei had a 17.3 per cent share, while Oppo’s nearly doubled to 11 per cent from a year ago, the research firm said. Xiaomi fell to fourth from second in Q1.

The iPhone’s market share in Q1 fell to 12.3 per cent from 17.8 per cent the same period in 2015, when it was the top ranked smartphone. The Cupertino-based company, which in Q1 suffered its first quarterly revenue drop in 13 years, reported iPhone sales in China, its second largest market after the US, declined 8 per cent in in the quarter.

Apple’s sales in the Greater China region, which includes the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, dropped 26 per cent to $12.5 billion in the January-March period. The region accounted for a quarter of Apple’s total revenue, down from 29 per cent a year ago.

Over the past few months Apple also has faced a number of legal and regulatory obstacles in China. Last month Beijing’s intellectual property regulator ruled the design of its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus infringes on an exterior design patent held by a previously unknown Chinese firm.

In April the Chinese government demanded it shut down its online book and movie services after the country’s video and publishing regulator imposed stricter guidelines on online content and a court ruled in early May that a local firm can continue to use the iPhone name on its wallets and purses after a long-running battle with Apple, which is appealing the ruling.