One in every four smartphones sold in China is an iPhone: Report

One in every four smartphones sold in China is an iPhone. According to new figures from Kantar, Apple has recorded a quarter of its smartphone sales in urban areas of China for the very first time. During Chinese New Year, Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus triggered record-high sales figures. The iPhone 6 was also the best selling smartphone in France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

According to new figures from Kantar, Apple’s iPhone 6 was the best selling phone in China in three months ending in January 2015, with a share of 9.5 percent. Despite arriving late, Apple’s share in China grew by 0.2 percent, holding 15.7 percent of the total smartphone market share. By October 2014, the iPhone 6 became the third best-selling device in China.

Next in line was China’s home-grown Xiaomi, which also fared reasonably well. Carolina Milanesi, Chief of Research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said that, “Xiaomi had several smartphones in the top 10 charts with the RedMi Note as its best selling device and the second most popular product behind the iPhone 6 which has a share of 8.9 percent.”

Not only China, iPhone sales worldwide have also generated a lot of attention. According to another report by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, since the launch of the iPhone 6, Apple’s share in British smartphone sales increased by 10.4 percent. Apple now accounts for 39.5 percent of British smartphone sales, the highest it has ever earned. This success is particularly evident in Great Britain where Apple now has its highest ever share of sales at 39.5 percent. Most of these sales were driven by loyal Apple users. Some 86 percent of British buyers upgraded from an older iPhone model, only 5 percent switched across from Samsung.

In the US, Apple sales rose by a more modest 0.7 percent in the three months ending October 2014 versus the same period a year ago. Overall, iPhones made up four out of the five best-selling models over the past three months.

iPhone maker Apple has also dethroned Samsung from the top spot on the global smartphone tally, a position that the Korean electronics giant had strongly held for over three years, research firm Gartner said. The South Korean tech giant lost market share for three consecutive quarters up to July-September, and analysts say the trend likely continued in the October-December period thanks to competition from Apple’s new iPhones and cheaper Chinese rivals like Xiaomi.

A report by TechCrunch points out that Apple’s new phones tend to launch in the final quarter, while Samsung generally releases its Galaxy S series in the second quarter. Even though Samsung makes aesthetic changes, it remains unclear exactly what the Korean firm can do to battle Apple’s growing position in the higher-end of the smartphone market.

Posted by : Gizmeon