The iPhone is the most common smartphone almost everywhere in the world... almost. According to analysts at Canalys, in the third quarter this year Apple dropped out of the Top 5 smartphone makers in the Chinese market.
And it's an important market - according to Canalys again, China became a bigger market than the US earlier this year.
Samsung maintains a tentative lead in China holding 14% of the market, with local maker Lenovo breathing down its neck with 13%.
To rub salt in the wound, Samsung's Galaxy S III took the title of "World's best-selling smartphone in Q3 2012," according to Strategy Analytics. There were 18 million Galaxy S III units sold and "only" 16.2 million iPhone 4S phones. Of course, iPhone 4S sales were down in Q3 because everyone was waiting for the iPhone 5 to launch.
Anyway, back to China. The third place there is surprising - it's held by Yulong, who are not known outside of China, but managed to score partnerships with the country's to major carriers - China Telecom and China Mobile.
Two better known brands round up the Top 5 - ZTE and Huawei. The last three companies have around 10% market share each. Apple is currently sixth with 8% (it had 9% in Q2).
In Q3 this year, there were around 50 million smartphones shipped in China, which is over a third of all smartphones shipped in the whole world for the three month period.
The growth in China comes primarily from cheap models ($70-$120) and the iPhone 4S can't compete with its price of $713 (the iPhone 5 is yet to launch in China, probably in December).
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