The sinking ship known as Huawei is claiming what could be its final prize, taking the crown as China’s top smartphone brand for what could well be the last time.

That’s the message in the latest data from IDC, which showed the telecom giant that’s been crippled by U.S. sanctions managed capture about a quarter of China’s smartphone market in last year’s fourth quarter. While that title sounds impressive, Huawei’s sales in the world’s largest smartphone market actually tumbled by about a third from a year earlier when it held nearly 40% of the market.

At the rate it’s falling, the company could well lose its crown in the current quarter to Apple or Oppo, which both posted strong fourth-quarter growth and tied for second best-selling brand in China each with 19.3% of the market.

Apple looked particularly strong both in China and worldwide during the quarter, as it banked on Huawei’s woes coupled with strong demand for its new iPhone 12 series. The company’s China sales boomed by 34.7% year-on-year, as it shipped 16.7 million iPhones during the quarter.

At the lower end of the market, Xiaomi posted even stronger 48% growth in China during the quarter, as its cheaper Redmi series did particularly well. That helped Xiaomi to finish as the market’s fifth largest brand for the quarter with 11.8% share.

For the full story, click here.

Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)