Samsung shipped 15.3 million smartphones in China during the months of April, May and June this year, reports Korea’s Yonhap News. According to the latest figures, which come from Strategy Analytics, Apple sold just 3.4 million iPhones leaving Samsung with almost 20 percent of the Chinese smartphone market, while Apple trails well behind with a 4.3 percent share. The figures highlight the increasing importance that China is playing in the global smartphone market, and why Apple is rumored to be prepping the iPhone 5C, a low-cost version of the iPhone, which is thought to be targeted at developing markets.
In total, there were 78.8 million smartphones sold during the second quarter in China, which translates to around 35 percent of the global smartphone market. Among the other vendors also outselling Apple in China include, Lenovo, Coolpad, ZTE, Huawei and Xiaomi, which like Samsung, all run various versions of Google’s Android mobile operating system. The result puts Apple in sixth place overall, down from its fifth place in the first quarter.
