WASHINGTON: Smartphone shipments in China managed to rise 2 per cent to 102.6 million units in Q1 from a year ago, according to IDC, with the market becoming increasingly saturated and driven mostly by demand for replacements. That growth rate is the same as the market posted last year, and IDC expects growth this year to also be at 2 per cent. But China’s smartphone market has slowed in recent quarters. Indeed, IDC rival Strategy Analytics claimed shipments fell 5 per cent in Q1 from a year ago to 104.9 million units.
Huawei was the market leader according to IDC’s figures, with a 16.2 per cent market share after boosting shipments 48 per cent year-on-year (see chart below, click to enlarge). Oppo moved into the number two position (15.4 per cent share), with shipments increasing 173 per cent. Vivo also posted huge growth, up 122 per cent, and took third place (13.3 per cent).
Both Apple and Xiaomi posted double-digit declines in shipments and fell to fourth and fifth respectively from first and second a year ago. Strategy Analytics had the same vendors in the top five but put Xiaomi third, Vivo fourth and Apple fifth.
Tay Xiaohan, senior analyst with IDC Asia/Pacific’s client devices unit, said there is an opportunity in the mid-range market with replacement users seeking to upgrade their phones and vendors should try to tap that segment of the market. The research firm noted that it’s becoming increasingly harder for vendors to differentiate themselves through hardware, so vendors such as Apple, Huawei and Xiaomi have launched payment services in China.
