“Apple’s long-awaited deal to sell the iPhone through China Mobile – the world’s largest mobile carrier – is set to up the ante in the smartphone war with rival Samsung, which stands to lose its leading position in the mainland market,” Ansuya Harjani reports for CNBC Asia.
“‘I think Samsung would be the biggest loser of the deal. There’s no question Samsung will lose market share. Apple will take a large share of consumers who are willing to consider non-Chinese brands away from Samsung,'” Bob O’Donnell, founder and chief analyst, Technalysis told CNBC on Monday,” Harjani reports. “‘Apple iPhone 5s at all three carriers will for sure ignite a ‘price war’ boosting the overall iPhone 5s sales in China,’ said Tom Kang, research director at Counterpoint, adding that Apple and Samsung may be tied in terms of smartphone market share by January or February – a peak shopping period in the mainland due to the Chinese New Year holidays, which begin at the end of January.”
Harjani reports, “In October, Apple’s share in China’s smartphone market stood at 12 percent, compared with 17 percent for Samsung, according to Counterpoint.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The only market Apple wants to dominate — and does, quite handily — is the market for quality customers: Those who can recognize value and who have disposable income and the proven will to spend it. General market share (market share for market share’s sake) is of no interest to Apple. Amassing cheapskates and/or the poor is a fruitless exercise better left to the patent-infringing Apple wannabes.
