14 DAY TRIAL // A study conducted by a Hong Kong-based research firm revealed that Samsung’s smartphone sales decreased by more than 50% in China during the first quarter of this year. Apparently, Samsung’s offerings weren’t as appealing as those from other manufacturers like Huawei, Oppo and Vivo.
Samsung’s shipments of smartphones in China dropped by 60% compared to last year, to a level of 3.5 million units in the first quarter. As a result of lower sales, Samsung’s market share decreased from 8.6% in the previous quarter to just 3.3% now.
The Korean smartphone maker has lost ground to local manufacturers like Huawei and Vivo, which increased their market share by 25% and 60%, respectively. Huawei increased its market share to 19.7%, but it wasn’t the company that recorded the highest shipment growth last quarter. Oppo was actually the device maker that managed to grow its shipments of phones by 80% in China.
The report reveals that Oppo and Vivo are the fastest growing brands in China, followed by Huawei. They occupy the top three spots in the country and are followed by brands like Apple and Samsung, the two biggest smartphone makers worldwide.
Chinese smartphone makers offer more affordable devices
But the market in China is atypical, customers can choose from a plenitude of smartphones that feature the latest specs, but also come with affordable prices. In addition, Chinese smartphones are available for purchase online and feature localized app services, something that local customers put much value on.
By contrast, Samsung phones are only available offline and don’t have special app services for customers in China. They’re also more expensive than other offerings on the market, making them less appealing to Chinese users.
Still, this is a minor setback for Samsung, considering that sales of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ weren’t included in the report. The latest Samsung flagship has been selling well in various markets over the world, and the company also released a special variant for China and Korea. The 6GB of RAM and 128GB Galaxy S8+ has been offered to Chinese customers, in an attempt to boost the appeal of Samsung smartphones in the country and increase shipments.