“Apple Inc’s share of China’s smartphone market almost halved to 10 percent in April-June as buyers waited for the next iPhone model – expected later this year – or switched brands, data from industry research firm IDC showed on Friday,” Lee Chyen Yee reports for Reuters.
“For the first time, smartphone shipments in China overtook feature phones in the second quarter, with local brands Lenovo Group Ltd and ZTE Corp pushing Apple to fourth place from second, the IDC data showed. Total April-June smartphone shipments rose to 44 million, accounting for 51 percent of China’s total mobile shipments of 87 million, IDC said,” Yee reports. “‘There are two things in play,’ said IDC analyst TZ Wong, referring to Apple’s drop in ranking and market share. ‘One is seasonal, people know the new phone is coming. And the second is that the alternatives are becoming much more attractive than a year ago. The iPhone didn’t change much over the year.'”
“South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd retained its lead in the Chinese smartphone market with a share of 19 percent, though this was down from 21 percent in the previous quarter, according to the IDC data,” Yee reports. “Lenovo, the world’s No.2 vendor of personal computers which makes the LePhone, climbed to second place and increased its China market share to 11 percent from a single-digit percentage in the first quarter when it was ranked 7th, the data showed. Local rival Huawei Technologies Co Ltd ranked fifth.”
Yee reports, “Data from Gartner, another research firm, showed Apple’s market share fell to 12 percent in the second quarter from 17 percent in the previous three months, though it kept its No.2 ranking, according to a report by Nomura Securities.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Crime pays.
Apple is resting on its laurels lately, I’m afraid.
Even if I don’t like Windows phone there are a bunch of people who switched from an iPhone 3GS to Nokia Lumia 800.
I asked them why, they said: it runs smoothly (yes, it does), it comes with nice apps (yes it does), it costs half of an iPhone 4S (true, in Germany). And the screen is a little bigger than the iPhone screen, crisp, clear, retina or very closed.
Then I said: but you have so much less apps. They said: I don’t need any more apps. I said: But it’s from Microsoft, they are evil. They said: I don’t care since it looks sleek and not cluttered like usual from Microsoft. I said: you cannot upgrade to Windows phone 8. They said: why should I need to upgrade? I get it with the next phone which again will cost half of an iPhone.
So that’s a sad story but true. 4 million Lumias seems not to be much compared to the iPhone shipments. But Apple should take it serious. It is a total different approach than iOS, a unique look and feel, and attractive to a lot of people.
Especially the home screen is really nice and sometimes I look at my iPhone and find the home screen a little boring after such a long time. Not to mention how unusable the folder system is when you have to re-order 200 apps.
Don’t misunderstand me: I really hate to admit that Windows phone is attractive to a lot of people. I so very much wish Apple has a great answer in his pocket and gets back to clear leadership as they deserve it.
I keep all my fingers crossed for Sep. 12.
I totally disagee with you. The windows phone are not that good, as soon as my friend saw my 4S, he is going to return his phone and willing to pay more to have one. We compared the siri like feature that the phone had, and it was sorely lacking, the voice was not smooth like siri is and it kept repeating that it didnt catch what you said so often that it was a one in 20 chance of it functioning when you told or asked it something….pathetic.
Well, I only told what happened. There are regular people who are satisfied with Windows Phone.
The same way it started with Android, we all at MDN were laughing at early versions, now they activate more than iOS. (Sure the profit is on Apple’s side as well as Android is stolen IP.)
I only say that Apple should have an eye on Windows Phone. This time it it not stolen IP as it is really different. And it is much better than previous versions of Windows mobile. There will be a strong competitor, no matter what your friend did. There are not only nerds in the world, Sheldon!
Actually I agree with yo t a point Apple have seriously rested on their laurels this last year to 18 months. They clearly thought the opposition could find it difficult to catch up as quickly as they have to produce good if not great competitors. Samsung have actually competed very well and some people prefer it. Windows phone I hate the 80s look of the panels myself but some will like it no doubt. Apple does need to raise its game and watch prices or they will lose out over the next few years. Thankfully today’s court win should help at least sop others stealing quite so openly.
Most people don’t know the difference and don’t care. Ask someone why they have a Windows phone and they’ll tell you they went into a store to buy a phone and they bought a phone. Nine out of ten people don’t know they do anything but make phone calls.
Apple has never tried to sell the MOST phones. Only the BEST phones. And it does that very well. Want a shiny phone? Buy a nice plastic one, every six months if you want.
I am using an iPhone 4 and my original 3G is still working for my son.
Just a thought.
Pure baloney.
Who is it this time idc, Gartner, IHS? The lawsuit has already exposed the shysters. There is no empirical data to prove their numbers. The only true numbers come from apple.
China telecom just reported how the iPhone has helped them increase their subs. China mobile is not growing as fast as uniom and telecom in the 3G spectrum all due to the fact mobile does not carry the iPhone.
Hogwash.
I have been losing confidence in the reports issued by the research firms for some time. All to often their numbers do not add up to what is eventually revealed by the manufacturers. For instance, IDC reported that Samsung sold 3 MM of its smartphones worldwide during the December quarter, while court documents, provided by Samsung, show that Samsung sold 27,000 units in the US.
Huh uh. The US still remains the #1 handset market in the world (although not for long). The European market (3rd largest behind Asia/Pacific) declined during the December quarter. So IDC is saying that Samsung smartphones sales totaled 2.97 million units outside of the US (representing a dramatic increase in sales)? The numbers add up, only if you accept Samsung’s stated “shipped” numbers.
But who cares about the December quarter, or the June quarter, the future is tomorrow and beyond. If other manufacturers made inroads because “The iPhone didn’t change much over the year.’”, then this December quarter should be an extreme wakeup call for iPhone competitors.
Personally, I want Apple to dominate the December quarter, because its the #1 handset sales quarter of the calendar year, and sets the tone going into the following calendar year.
Plus Reuters is notorious for poor reporting on Apple.
Infatuation aside, Apple does very well in the USA, but they do struggle in other parts of the world and that is expected particularly in China and frankly India as well.
Europe and Canada continue to support RIM and Android is dipping into every market and from what we hear they are doing just fine.
I think that Apple will take on the entire Asian market moving forward with a more affordable price point which might not be too exciting for margins but certainly exciting for volume of sales.
This said, they also need to become more affordable in the PC market as 68 million Mac users versus 1.7 billion Windows users is not overly exciting.
Welcome to China… cheap cheap cheap…
All this will change when Apple changes the visual appearance of the iPhone