Apple has almost 60% market share in the country, more than all its rivals combined

Apr 14, 2014 11:44 GMT  ·  By

iPhone 5c is said to have been one of Apple’s worst moves in recent years, but sales numbers combined with those of the 5s are not too shabby. And that includes China, where the 4G-capable phones make up almost 60 percent of all TD-LTE handsets used.

The numbers come from Sino Market Research via DigiTimes. According to the Taiwanese site with ties to the Apple supply chain, the iDevices held a dominant market share of 58.7% for 4G smartphones.

These are sales in the China market in January-February 2014, precisely when China Mobile & Apple finally agreed to bring iPhone to the carrier’s 4G & 3G networks.

Regardless of how many 5c units Apple has sold in the country, it is clear that offering customers more than one option hasn’t hurt the company’s bottom line one bit.

In fact, Sino Market Research also reveals that the Cupertino giant is actually being trailed by Samsung Electronics with 26.4% share, Coolpad with 9.4%, K-Touch with 2.5%, Sony with 1.2%, and Huawei with a meagre 0.8%. Ad them all up and they’re still miles behind Apple.

The market research firm expects Coolpad, Huawei, ZTE, and Lenovo to turn the market upside down with the launch of some cheaper 4G handsets, “a segment they believe will account for 60-70% of TD-LTE smartphones to be sold in China [with] Apple's and Samsung's shares [...] expected to drop in the future.”

For one reason or another, Sino Market Research fails to take into account a scenario where Apple deploys its best iPhones yet this year, which will undoubtedly help sustain that high profile image for at least another year.

The California-based computer giant also rolled out 4G-capable iPads in the country as of late. Announced at the beginning of this month, the new TD-LTE-capable models are revised versions of the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display – essentially the latest Apple iPads with tweaked radios inside.

With a growing variety of devices on offer for the Chinese market, Apple is poised for a bright future even as competitors scramble to eat away at its market share by flooding the market with cheaper alternatives.

China has long craved for official sales of the iPhone and the iPad, and while price is certainly a soft spot for many, the desire to own Apple’s elusive devices is just as strong with the Chinese user base.