Samsung Takes the Lead in China's Smartphone Market

Samsung claimed the top spot in the Chinese smartphone market for the first time in 2012, according to Strategy Analytics. The South Korean electronics giant sold 30.06 million smartphones in China last year, nearly tripling sales from 10.9 million units in 2011. Samsung’s market share of 17.7 percent was enough for the company to take the top spot in yet another market.

Chinese company Lenovo came in second with 13.2 percent market share, leaving Apple, which claimed 11 percent of the market, in third spot. The top five are completed by two more Chinese brands, Huawei and Coolpad, with 9.9 and 9.7 percent market share, respectively. Coolpad, owned by China Wireless Technologies, outsold Apple in the most recent quarter with low-cost smartphones that cost a fraction of Apple’s cheapest iPhone. With an average monthly wage below $600, the majority of Chinese consumers simply can’t afford to shell out $500 dollars or more on a mobile phone, which is why there have been persistent rumours of Apple planning a low-cost iPhone.

The 2011 market leader Nokia saw its market share collapse from 29.9 percent to 3.7 percent. The Finnish company fell out of the top five and is now the number seven smartphone vendor in China. In January, Nokia reported that revenue from mobile device sales in greater China had dropped 79 percent in the fourth quarter, a decline that can be attributed to the company’s decision to abandon Symbian in favor of Windows Phone. The fact that the average selling price of Nokia’s Windows Phone devices is much higher than it was for Symbian smartphones, has obviously hurt Nokia’s position in China.