Chinese Smartphone Makers Are Nipping at Apple and Samsung’s Heels

Apple and Samsung are household names and have enjoyed largely unrivaled dominance in the smartphone market (except against each other)– until recently, that is.

Samsung is currently the largest phone maker in the world, whereas Apple lags behind in second place, having suffered a decline in sales over the years. According to a market ranking published by TrendForce earlier this year in January, Samsung controls 22.2% of the smartphone market, whereas Apple is sitting prettily on 16.8%.

But the big story is coming from China, which traditionally hasn’t been perceived as a powerhouse in the smartphone market. China-based smartphone makers Huawei and Xiaomi have been snapping up market share at a growing rate, especially in emerging and developing markets.

According to the same TrendForce ranking, Huawei is currently the third largest smartphone maker in the world, with a 9.3% share of the market, whereas Xiaomi ranks fifth, with 5.8%. Huawei has made no secret of its ambitions to overtake Apple as the second-largest smartphone manufacturer by 2020, having already ousted Lenovo to take third place.

As a new research report by Kantar Worldpanel reveals, the race for smartphone dominance reveals a markedly different picture in the Chinese smartphone market, which is the largest in the world for obvious reasons. Apple controls 20% of the urban Chinese market there, whereas Samsung has just a paltry 9% (down from a high of 34%). On the other hand, Huawei beats both companies handily, with 26% of the market. Xiaomi is nipping at Apple’s heels with 19%.

As Kantar analyst Lauren Guenveur notes in a blog post today entitled, “Apple versus Samsung is so over,” observers of the competition for smartphone dominance should take heed of Chinese phone makers. “Anyone still focusing on these two giant competitors, however, is missing the bigger picture,” Guenveur writes. “With Huawei aiming to overtake Apple as the second-largest smartphone vendor by 2020, and rumors swirling about Google entering the handset market on its own, Apple and Samsung should stop worrying so much about each other and take a look around them.”

That being said, Guenveur’s findings also reveal that the race for the Chinese market may be far from over. Unlike Western consumers, Chinese buyers have much lower ratings when it comes to brand loyalty, making the Chinese market far more tumultuous and ripe for the taking. Just 19% of Huawei consumers in China indicated that they planned to repurchase the brand, while 24% had changed brands from Samsung.

Guenver also notes in the report that the next arena in which smartphone makers duke it out will likely be India, which has experienced double digit growth rates in sales. Samsung is currently leading there, although it is being challenged by Xiaomi and Micromax. Apple has in place a three-to-five year plan for capturing a sizeable portion of that market whereas Huawei has just announced similar plans for market growth in India.

Featured Photo Copyright: Krystian Nawrocki