Share of mobile operating systems in China 2014-2024, by month

In September 2024, the Android smartphone operating system had a market share of over 77 percent in China. In contrast, its biggest rival, the Apple iOS had a market share of around 22 percent. The Chinese smartphone market is dominated by domestic brands which operate on the Android operating system.

The domestic smartphone industry

Domestic brands dominate the Chinese smartphone market, making it difficult for foreign manufacturers. While Samsung and Apple are the global industry leaders, only the iPhone can assert its market position as an overseas product in China. The remainder of the market is occupied by Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor, Viva, and Oppo. 

A truly domestic operating system in the making

Despite a large Chinese smartphone industry, domestic manufacturers have not developed a stand-alone mobile operating system — yet. Although all leading brands have developed their proprietary OS, they are still based on the Android system. However, Huawei with its HarmonyOS is the only company that is the closest to a truly independent software. Despite being originally developed on Android, Huawei plans to remove all android code from the microkernel in its Q4 2024 software release.