Apple on the rise in China

The latest figures from the Wall Street Journal show that Apple is starting to become more widespread in China. The world’s largest mobile market, China has long been the bastion of low-cost Android alternatives from Asian manufacturers like Huawei and Lenovo.

However Apple’s market share in China went up from 6% in Q3 of last year to 7% in Q4. This currently puts the Cupertino company 5th amongst smartphone vendors.

That ranking is expected to increase for this quarter, as we’re barely a month removed from Apple’s deal with China Mobile. The country’s largest carrier has just started selling iPhones to its 760 million subscribers.

Meanwhile, Samsung continues to hold the top position in China with 19% market share as of last quarter, while Lenovo comes in second at 13%. Coolpad and Huawei come in third and fourth at 11% and 10%, while upstart manufacturer Xiaomi is hot on Apple’s heels in sixth position with 6%. Analysts argue that Xiaomi is expected to continue to grow, and could overtake Apple if the China Mobile deal doesn’t deliver as expected.

Still, Apple has gone on record to indicate that market share does not determine the success of its brand. Rather, the high-end smartphone sector is what Tim Cook has recently stated is important to the tech giant, rather than competing amongst “feature phones, [or] smartphones that function as or are used as feature phones.” Still, with IDC analysts predicting less future growth in the premium smartphone market due to new users coming from smaller cities and rural areas, Apple may have a hard time staying in the top five.

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