iPhone captures 12% smartphone marketshare in China in first quarter 2015
Apple could become China’s biggest smartphone vendor in the second half of 2015 if current trends continue. The vendor could be gearing up to knock Chinese market leader, Xiaomi, from its number one spot in just a few months, a new study has shown.
China smartphone shipments grew 17% annually to reach 110 million units in the first quarter of 2015. Xiaomi maintained first position, but Apple is rapidly closing the gap with 12% marketshare in second place, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics’ Handset Country Share Tracker(HCST) service.
Shipments of smartphones in China grew 17% annually from 93.6 million units in first quarter 2014 to a 109.8 million in first quarter 2015. China smartphone growth on an annualised basis has slowed from 39% to 17% during the past year, due to increasing penetration maturity. This is the first quarter that China’s smartphone annual growth rate has been lower than the global average since 2010, said Strategy Analytics.
Xiaomi shipped 14 million smartphones and captured 13% marketshare in China during first quarter 2015, increasing from 11% a year earlier. Xiaomi has maintained the number one smartphone position in China for three quarters in a row, due to solid demand for its popular Redmi models.
Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, commented that despite its lead in the market, Xiaomi is about to hit a slowdown: “However, Xiaomi’s rapid growth is now coming to an end, and it has delivered negative sequential growth in China for the past two quarters. By contrast, Apple is growing swiftly in China at the moment. Apple shipped 13.5 million iPhones in China during first quarter 2015, holding its ranking as the number two smartphone vendor for the second straight quarter.”
Apple captured 12% share in China in first quarter 2015 and it has narrowed the marketshare gap with Xiaomi to less than 1%. Mawston added: “Apple’s new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models are proving wildly popular with Chinese consumers and, if current trends continue, Apple could become China’s largest smartphone vendor in the second half of this year.”
Meanwhile, Huawei shipped 11.2 million smartphones and held on to third position with 10% marketshare in China in first quarter 2015, rising steadily from 9% a year ago. The Mate7, Ascend P6 and Honor series are among the main smartphone models driving Huawei’s growth. Huawei has significantly improved its product design and successfully expanded its online retail presence in China this year, enabling it to become a major smartphone player in the country said Strategy Analytics.
