We have been stressing that we are in a smartphone boom since a while now and it seems the growth has reached its peak now. Surprisingly China has already passed the United States to become the largest smartphone market in the world by volume. Shipments in China reached an all time high at 23.9 million in the 3rd quarter, which is 58% more than the second quarter, whereas shipments in the US dropped 7%, resulting in a shipment of 23.3 million devices.
According to the research firm Strategy Analytics the reason behind the surge is that the devices have become cheaper and hence more widely available. The growth in the Chinese market is fuelled by the availability of cheaper Google’s Android based devices and also subsidized Apple iPhones. Besides, the wireless carriers also seem to be pushing smartphones aggressively as well.
On the other hand, as Linda Sui of Strategy Analytics puts it, the smartphone sales in the US took a hit with a lot of consumers waiting for the fifth generation iPhone, which saw a delayed release. This does leave us With the question if the iPhone 4S factor and holiday sales, would US fight back in early 2012?
As per Neil Mawston, China has now become the largest and the most lucrative market for any manufacturer or developer to ignore. Interestingly though, Nokia still retains the top spot in China with 28% smartphone shipments in the 3rd quarter. Samsung electronics with its huge fleet of Android smartphones stands at the 2nd spot with 18%of the shipments. Apple is intensifying its investment in China and Nokia is reinventing itself with Windows Phone, China sure has a lot coming its way 🙂
