Earlier this week, data showed Apple narrowly edge out
Samsung in market share during the fourth quarter of 2016. Now, new
data from Canalys offers up a closer look at the Smartphone market and
China. The data shows Apple struggle to keep up with younger
manufacturers such as Xiaomi…
According to Canalys, Smartphone shipments in China hit
476.5 million during 2016, an increase of 11.4 percent year-over-year. For
comparison’s sake, Smartphone shipments had grown 1.9 percent in 2015 compared
to 2014.
More specifically, Smartphone shipments in China hit 131.6
million during the fourth quarter of 2016. That’s the single largest quarter
total in history for the Chinese market, accounting for one-third of worldwide
shipments.
Breaking down the industry further by manufacturer, Huawei
led the way with 76.2 million Smartphone shipments during the year. Next
up is Oppo, which increased its shipments from just over 30 million in 2015 to
over 70 million during 2016. In third place comes Vivo, which shipped around 60
million smart phones during the year.
More notable, however, is Xiaomi, which shipped 51.4 million
units to take the fourth spot in the market. Apple, on the other hand, shipped
43.8 million smart phones in 2016, a decline of 18.2 percent compared to the
year before. Due to its drop, Apple fell to be the fourth largest Smartphone
manufacturer in China, while Xiaomi leapfrogged to become third overall.
As expected, Apple’s drop in shipments also had a dire
effect on the company’s market share in China. The company slipped from 15.2
percent of the market in 2015 to 10.7 percent in 2016.
Apple’s struggle in China hasn’t gone unnoticed. Despite the
current conditions, however, Tim Cook has been optimistic about Apple’s future
there. Cook and CFO Luca Maestri explained during Apple’s most recent
earnings call that China represents a huge driver of growth. Specifically,
Apple points to China as a driver of its ever-growing Services sector.
Looking ahead, Canalys analyst Jessie Ding believes that
Apple will get back on track in China during 2017 thanks to the upcoming refresh
of the iPhone.
China and Hong Kong are still the hardest-hit areas in
Apple’s global top ten market. This directly led to a 7.0% decline in global
shipments compared to 2015.” Ding commented, “This year, the outlook
remains bleak for Apple to get its China performance back to its heyday of
2015. As with consumers in other developed markets, China’s consumers are
awaiting the 10th anniversary of the iPhone with very high expectations.”
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