Ahead Of China Mobile Deal, Apple Grabs A Bigger Share Of China's Smartphone Market
Apple's iPhone hasn't even launched with China Mobile, yet already for the month of October the handset secured a huge share of China's supermassive smartphone market, according to a recent report.
The news comes from Counterpoint Research, which explains that out of China's “Top Six” smartphone manufacturers Apple jumped from an unimpressive sixth-place all the way up to third-place. The change coincides with the launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on Sept. 20, and Apple's share of China's smartphone market continued to grow at a huge pace throughout the subsequent month of October.
As you can see in the above chart, as of October Apple's share of smartphone sales in China was continuing to increase rapidly, and showed no signs of decreasing. Though the No. 1 and No. 2 placeholders Samsung and Lenovo also saw an increase in smartphone sales for the month of October, Apple's share is increasing at a far higher rate.
On the other hand, Coolpad, Huawei, and ZTE all saw a decrease in their share of China's smartphone market during the same period.
China offers the world's largest smartphone market, and in the nation, China Mobile is the biggest of all carriers with 740 million subscribers. Based on the latest evidence, Apple's iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c appear set to launch with China Mobile on Dec. 18 following preorders purportedly scheduled to go live today, Dec. 12. As such, while Apple's increasing share of China's smartphone market is indeed impressive and significant, the availability of its iPhone from China Mobile is expected to account for astronomical sales in the nation.
How astronomical? Well, the latest analysis claims that as many as 24 million iPhone sales could be made next year alone thanks to a China Mobile deal. Few smartphones are licensed to operate on China Mobile's forthcoming TD-LTE network; Apple, however, made a special effort to ensure that its iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c were compatible with the standard, and sought official approval from China some months ago.
We'll keep you updated with further information as we receive it.
In the meantime, see: Apple's New iPads Are Dominating The Tablet Market In Japan, Pocket God: Ooga Jump Makes The Leap To The Freemium Side With Latest Update, and Ski Safari: Adventure Time Spin-Off Crosses The Finish Line, Reaches The App Store.
