BEIJING: Apple is the Smartphone maker to beat in China, where the best selling phone for the three months to January was the iPhone 6, according to new sales figures from analysts Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. This makes the iPhone more popular than the home grown Xiaomi Redmi Note.
Local manufacturer Xiaomi made several devices in the top 10 most popular Smartphone in China but none could top the iPhone 6. The 4.7-inch device accounted for 9.5 percent of all Smartphone sold in urban China, compared to the Redmi Note’s 8.9 percent.
The ‘Greater China’ region which Apple defines as including Taiwan and Hong Kong is Apple’s second largest market after the US, and earned it $16bn in the first quarter of 2015. The company has been rapidly expanding its retail footprint in China, opening five new outlets in January in the lead up to Chinese New Year on February 19. It currently has 18 retail stores in China, including four in Shanghai and three in Beijing.
Overall in China, iOS Smartphone sales climbed to 25.4 percent, up from 17.4 percent a year ago. Meanwhile, Android still dominates China’s Smartphone sales, but its share of the market is shrinking, down from 80.8 percent to 72.8 percent.
The new sales figures from Kantar back up a recent report by analyst firm Canalys which found that in the fourth quarter of 2014, Apple became the biggest Smartphone vendor in terms of sales, beating out Xiaomi, Samsung, and Huawei in second, third, and fourth places respectively.
