Canalys, the firm of analysts has reported a 199 percent growth, year-on-year, at the second quarter of this year and a 32 percent increase on last quarter’s numbers.
The Chinese market was responsible for over a quarter of global shipments of smartphones in 2012.
81% of smartphones shipped in China during Q2 ran Android. Apple and Nokia, whose devices run iOS and Windows Mobile respectively, both lost market share. While Samsung retained its position as market leader, foreign vendors as a whole are losing market share.
Tier-one domestic vendors are proving more sensitive to market conditions and better able to forge partnerships with operators according to Nicole Peng, Canalys research director for China. Peng also highlighted the performance of Chinese tier-two vendors: “These domestic vendors are making significant progress transitioning their portfolios and customer bases to be more focused on smartphones,” she said.
These numbers come at a time when an increasing number of Chinese consumers will be transitioning from feature phones to smartphones. With a billion or so mobile phone users, China’s population holds tremendous potential for smartphone expansion in the general mobile phone market. Some conservative estimates have smartphone users at only 20% of all mobile users in 2015.
