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Apple Becomes China's Fifth-Largest Smartphone Vendor in Q4 2013

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Original poster
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According to a new report from market research firm IDC (via The Wall Street Journal), Apple became China's fifth largest smartphone manufacturer during the fourth quarter of 2013, taking 7% of total market share in the country. Notably, the report does not include iPhone sales numbers from the region's largest carrier China Mobile, which began selling the iPhone through a partnership with Apple last month.
According to research firm IDC, Apple's market share in mainland China rose to 7% in the quarter from 6% in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was the first full quarter after Apple launched its iPhone 5S and 5C in China in late September, on the same day the new phones came out in the U.S. and a host of other markets. In the past, iPhones went on sale in China months after they were launched in the U.S.
Click to expand...
Apple is still behind other smartphone vendors in the country including Samsung, Lenovo, and Huawei, with those companies coming in at first, second, and fourth place, respectively. Apple also remained slightly ahead of newcomer Xiaomi, which notably hired former Google vice president of product management Hugo Barra in August 2013.

Apple has made strides towards improving its presence in China over the past few years, opening new Apple Stores in populated regions and establishing an official store on Chinese e-commerce site Tmall in addition to partnering with China Mobile. CEO Tim Cook has also visited the country numerous times throughout the past few years to meet with both China Mobile executives and government officials to discuss market growth.

Article Link: Apple Becomes China's Fifth-Largest Smartphone Vendor in Q4 2013
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/02/19/apple-china-fifth-vendor-q4-2013/
the8thark

the8thark

macrumors 601
Apr 18, 2011
4,628
1,735
Give chinese higher wages and more of them can buy iPhones. But higher wages means less people would be working at foxconn so less iPhones are made and less chinese would be able to buy iPhones because of less supply.

The iPhone paradox in motion.
 
kdarling

kdarling

macrumors P6
Jun 9, 2007
17,373
5,924
First university coding class = 47 years ago
Personal income is not really that important. It's all about the upfront price.

Around the world, people, rich or poor, tend to be willing to pay up to about $250 upfront.

Thus, where devices are not subsidized, people tend to choose a phone with the best features that they can get for that price. As historical data shows, high end iPhones don't sell well at all in such markets, as they're overpriced.

However, the iPhone is subsidized down to "free" in China, which is going to help its sales a lot. As seen in the USA and Japan, when upfront costs are similar, people often choose the iPhone.

Anyway, here's the data in pie chart form. I find it easier to visualize this way:

2013q4_china_sales.png
 
smithrh

smithrh

macrumors 68030
Feb 28, 2009
2,722
1,730
Vendor != Manufacturer.

Article needs to be consistent (and correct).

Which is it?
 
512ke

512ke

macrumors 6502a
Sep 10, 2003
577
186
If Apple is gaining share, a question becomes, who is losing share in China?
 
gnasher729

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
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512ke said:
If Apple is gaining share, a question becomes, who is losing share in China?
Click to expand...

If Apple is going from 6% to 7%, nobody is really affected by that. The others are much more affected by fluctuations within the 93% than by the 1% that went to Apple.
 
S

SudoSays

macrumors newbie
Feb 18, 2014
13
0
512ke said:
If Apple is gaining share, a question becomes, who is losing share in China?
Click to expand...

Hopefully Huaweii. They deserve bankruptcy and more. If you're wondering why, check out their phones on their site, and check out their past legal problems with Cisco.
 
H

hkenneth

macrumors regular
Jul 25, 2011
245
23
the8thark said:
Give chinese higher wages and more of them can buy iPhones. But higher wages means less people would be working at foxconn so less iPhones are made and less chinese would be able to buy iPhones because of less supply.

The iPhone paradox in motion.
Click to expand...

We have 13 billion people... no need to worry...
 
G

Glassman

macrumors member
Feb 21, 2006
73
1
kdarling said:
Personal income is not really that important. It's all about the upfront price.

Around the world, people, rich or poor, tend to be willing to pay up to about $250 upfront.

Thus, where devices are not subsidized, people tend to choose a phone with the best features that they can get for that price. As historical data shows, high end iPhones don't sell well at all in such markets, as they're overpriced.

However, the iPhone is subsidized down to "free" in China, which is going to help its sales a lot. As seen in the USA and Japan, when upfront costs are similar, people often choose the iPhone.

Anyway, here's the data in pie chart form. I find it easier to visualize this way:

View attachment 461594
Click to expand...

The phone subsidy works in a very different way in China. They let you pay the full cost of the phone upfront and then they give you a portion of it back every month for a year or two. You have to choose a tariff exceeding the monthly "subsidy", but you end up paying less for the service every month. So over the 2 years they give you a total discount on their service equaling the device's upfront cost. You have to shell out the full price on day one though.

I don't quite understand why this model is in place - is it utter distrust of the customer (get a subsidized phone, run away, sell it off for profit, never be seen again), or are the network companies opposed to bankrolling their customers, effectively running a consumer lending business like western carriers do?
 
C

coolspot18

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2010
1,051
90
Canada
512ke said:
If Apple is gaining share, a question becomes, who is losing share in China?
Click to expand...

China has a lot of domestic cell phone manufacturers - brands were hear about here like Xiaomi.


Glassman said:
I don't quite understand why this model is in place - is it utter distrust of the customer (get a subsidized phone, run away, sell it off for profit, never be seen again), or are the network companies opposed to bankrolling their customers, effectively running a consumer lending business like western carriers do?
Click to expand...

Probably a bit of both - financing and lending are sort of new concepts in China, legal frameworks not as strong in China. Also, there is a cultural factor too - China has one of the highest savings rates in the world... most Chinese/Asians like to pay for things up front and don't like to carry debt.
 
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