Apple took the top spot for smartphone sales in China last quarter for the first time in the company’s history, reports financial research firm Canalys.
To accomplish the stunning feat, Apple leapfrogged Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi, thanks to the sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Apple is also selling more iPhones in China now than it is in the United States, even though the iPhone costs nearly double its nearest competitor. Canalys credits this to Apple tapping into trends like larger screens and LTE.
“While Chinese smart phone vendors are quickly gaining ground internationally, Apple has turned the tables on them in their home market. The company is finally riding the large screen and LTE trends in China, which have been vital to its success, along with a well-timed launch and a clampdown on grey exports of its products out of Hong Kong.
China has become one of Apple’s most important markets as it looks to increase iPhone sales as the smartphone market has saturated in most developed nations. Most smartphone users in China are just making the transition from feature phones to smartphones, so it’s become a hot battle ground between giants like Apple and Samsung and local startups like Xiaomi and Huawei.
Rounding out the top four smartphone makers in Q4 in China were Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung and Huawei. Apple will announce its Q1 2015 earnings today at 2PM PT. Analysts expect it will be Apple’s biggest quarter ever, and you can catch all the action on the Cult of Mac Liveblog
Source: Canalys
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
3 responses to “Apple is top smartphone maker in China for first time ever”
I know there’s a link, but I’d appreciate if the article had some details on this. “Top spot for smartphone sales last quarter” gets you 90% there but isn’t the most specific wording.
If anyone is curious, it’s based on units sold in China, Q4 2014.
Don’t wanna give people TOO much info. Then they would be informed. Cultists don’t like to be informed.
I recently read a few articles last week or so, saying how Xiaomi is a massively huge threat to Apple’s iPhone business and Apple was pretty much doomed thanks to Xiaomi’s superior $150 smartphones. Whatever happened to that? That was due to a couple of completely ignorant writers trying to spread a whole lot of FUD and BS to simply confuse investors considering purchasing Apple stock. Their articles are mainly based on wishful thinking that a company of Xiaomi’s size and revenue could easily topple Apple’s iPhone in every market. Apple has the full backing of the top three Chinese carriers and they know the Chinese consumers that can afford Apple’s iPhones will certainly buy them and use them to the fullest.