Sam Oliver
Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have propelled the company to the top of the smartphone sales charts in China, a report published Wednesday suggests, knocking off former top dog Samsung and besting every domestic Chinese firm in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The report, from market research firm Canalys, did not provide details or give any indication by how much Apple may have pulled ahead. Xiaomi is said to have come in second, with Samsung in third and Huawei in fourth place.
Canalys's analysis runs counter to that published last week by Counterpoint Research, which placed Apple in a fight with Lenovo for the runner-up slot behind Xiaomi with 12, 13, and 18 percent of the market, respectively. In that survey, Samsung finished fourth with just 9 percent.
Either way, China has undoubtedly become the new battleground for industry dominance. Samsung's recent financial decline was caused largely by a slide in sales to China, previously its largest market, as the South Korean firm is squeezed by Apple on the high end and competitors like Xiaomi on the low end.
Apple, in comparison, is believed to have sold more iPhones in China than in the U.S. during the holiday quarter. The company is also in the midst of a major Chinese retail expansion, opening 4 new stores in the next 3 weeks and planning a total of 25 more outlets by the end of 2016.
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15 Comments
Amazing. Not sure why the two reports disagree on Lenovo.
Designed in California. Desired in China. Lamented in Korea.
But..but.... Apple won't be popular in poor China! Ummmm Xiaomi is an iPhone killer!! Stupid Beats acquisition!! Tim Cook!!!
This will be spun as Apple took a margin hit in order to sell so many phone in a country where consumer are not known to make much money. How else do you sell so much in a cheap country.
Let all remember, all these reports are guessing at the numbers, Apple is the only one actually reporting numbers and the analysis are doing a survey of 1000 people and then extrapulating it to millions of devices sold.
My only comment is what the hell is taking Apple so long to build the Chinese stores? The progress has been way too slow, while the opportunity is huge. The biggest challenge for Apple on the China mainland is getting the government to drop the outrageous 17% tax added onto everything Apple. This is why so many buy in tax free Hong Kong.