China Dethrones US as the Largest Smartphone Market

Smartphone sales in China are going up, and the market has just claimed the top position in the world, a recent report from Strategy Analytics unveils.

During the third quarter of the year, sales of smartphones reached a record 24 million units in China, which allowed the country to get in front of the United States, where only 23 million units have been sold in the time frame.

According to the research firm, this is the first time China gets in front of the United States when it comes to sales of smartphones.

“Smartphone shipments grew 58 percent sequentially to reach a record 23.9 million units in China during Q3 2011,” Linda Sui, analyst at Strategy Analytics, said.

“In contrast, smartphone shipments fell 7 percent sequentially to reach 23.3 million units in the United States. China has overtaken the United States for the first time to become the world's largest smartphone market by volume.”

The research firm also notes that the Smartphone market in China has enjoyed a fast growth lately, driven by the wide availability of new models in the retail channel, along with great subsidizing by operators, especially when high-end models were involved.

Not to mention that users in China now have the possibility to purchase the Apple iPhone in the country, and that an array of affordable yet appealing Android devices from local manufacturers such as ZTE have already made an appearance on shelves.

“Nokia currently leads China's smartphone market with 28 percent share, while HTC heads the United States smartphone market with 24 percent share,” Tom Kang, director at Strategy Analytics, added.

Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, considers that, while China has taken the top position in the smartphone sales area when it comes to shipment volumes, the United States remains the top market in terms of revenue.

“China is now at the forefront of the worldwide mobile computing boom. China has become a large and growing smartphone market that no hardware vendor, component maker or content developer can afford to ignore,” Neil Mawston states.