{"id":12822,"title":"Chinese Brands are Shaking Up the $420B Smartphone Market","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2017-07-30T00:10:49+00:00","modified":"2017-10-23T10:44:12+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/chinese-brands-are-shaking-up-the-420b-smartphone-market/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/chinese-brands-are-shaking-up-the-420b-smartphone-market.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/chinese-brands-are-shaking-up-the-420b-smartphone-market.json","category":"Learning and Investing","categories":["Learning and Investing"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Stencil-Google-Chrome-2023-04-19-at-2.47.43-PM.jpeg?fit=1231%2C615&quality=89&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"Smartphones are a ubiquitous part of modern life, and now nearly half of humanity is connected through such devices.\n\nAs a result, the stakes have never been higher in the ultra-competitive smartphone market. Every day, companies are duking it out for any sliver they can get of global smartphone sales, which now exceed $420 billion per year.\n\nIn rapidly growing markets like China and India, the competitive environments are even more interesting. Due to rising socioeconomic circumstances and falling price points on certain models, large segments of these populations are able to purchase these devices for the first time.\n\nThese big markets are in a constant state of flux – and it’s not unusual to see top competition to get unseated.\n\n## THE CHINESE SMARTPHONE MARKET\n\nIn the most recent quarter, Chinese smartphone shipments grew a staggering 18.7% to 135.7 million:\n\n![China Smartphone Shipments](http://2oqz471sa19h3vbwa53m33yj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/china-smartphones-shipments.jpg)\n\nThis rapid increase in sales comes at a time when domestic brands in China are starting to aggressively market their products.\n\nOppo, a brand mostly unknown across the Pacific Ocean, has more than tripled market share over the last year to unseat the incumbent Huawei. This marks the first time that Oppo has been the most popular brand in the country.\n\n![Chinese Smartphone Market Share](http://2oqz471sa19h3vbwa53m33yj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/china-smartphones-marketshare.jpg)\n\n![](https://www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Capture-30-300x125.jpg)\n\n## IPHONE SALES DIP\n\nApple fell in the rankings, as consumers wait for the release of the 10th anniversary iPhone. Notably, this year-over-year decline was the first for Apple since entering the Chinese market.\n\nBecause domestic companies have greater access to manufacturers, they are beginning to roll out new features (e.g. augmented reality, flexible screens) to compete with brands like Samsung and Apple in ways never seen before. Domestic Chinese brands are generating excitement for their products and that is translating into triple-digit growth numbers for companies like Oppo and Vivo.\n\n![Smartphone Market Share Growth Rates 2016](http://2oqz471sa19h3vbwa53m33yj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/china-smartphones-growthrate.jpg)\n\nOne thing is for certain: competition will continue to be fierce in the world’s most populous country in 2017, and the success of domestic brands will continue to have growing implications for non-Chinese brands.\n\n![](http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/bb18798e371a5d8fd8e52038cd5d1008?s=100&r=pg&d=mm)\n\n[JEFF DESJARDINS](http://www.visualcapitalist.com/author/visualcapitali/)\n\nJeff Desjardins is a founder and editor of Visual Capitalist, a media website that creates and curates visual content on investing and business.\n\n[WEBSITE](http://visualcapitali.wpengine.com/)"}