Apple is closing in on becoming the number one smartphone company in China, according to new figures released by Strategy Analytics.
Although Apple ripoff Xiaomi remains in the number one position — thanks to its strategy of selling low-cost devices — analysts note that the company’s momentum is starting to slow down, while Apple’s just keeps on building!
Samsung, by comparison, fell to an embarrassing fourth place after Huawei.
The figures point out that total smartphone shipments to China amounted to 109.8 million units in the first three months of 2015 — a 17 percent increase on the 93.6 million units shipped to the country just one year earlier.
Of these, Xiaomi devices account for 12.8 percent of the market. This is less than 1 percent more than Apple’s 12 percent marketshare — made all the more impressive when you consider the relative cost of Apple’s high-end iPhone models next to Xiaomi’s cheaper products.
The strategy certainly seems to be paying off for Apple. Xiaomi experienced a rapid rise to prominence, but has seen negative growth for the past two quarters. Hilariously — given the company’s history of ripping off Apple designs — company CEO Lei Jun recently complained Xiaomi’s profits were being eroded by other companies stealing its ideas.
Apple, on the other hand, is still seeing demand grow swiftly in China. In the first three months of 2015, it shipped a massive 13.5 million iPhones to the country, and given the fact that it recently launched in an iPhone trade-in program to help users get their hands on the latest devices, I’d expect demand to grow even more.
No wonder Tim Cook’s convinced China’s set to take over from the U.S. as Apple’s biggest market in the near-future!
Source: Digitimes
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
One response to “Apple is on the verge of being China’s number one smartphone maker”
Luke, why don’t you spent some times to figure out why iphone 6/6 plus in China in the first three quarter instead of just quoting some study and offer nothing else.. So far your article read like fanboy essay than serious article.
How about I do some analysis for you?
Asian love the big screen. Android offers big screen for long time, but this is first time iphone 6/6 plus sell in bigger screen. That’s why iphone 6/6 plus able to sell big quality this time around. There is bent up demand for iphone, but in the long run it has zero chance to become No. 1. phone seller in China. The reality is that no many people in China will buy $750 phone every a couple of years.