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James Wang, DIGITIMES Research [Thursday 21 March 2013]
Sales of smartphones in China are expected to top 330 million units in 2013, making the market a fierce battle field for local and international smartphone brands and inducing makers in the supply chain to expect strong growth in the year, according to Digitimes Research. International brands, while having seen their market share in China decline sharply to below 40% in 2012, are unlikely to see a steep fall in their market shares in 2013; in other words, local brands will meet challenges from rival international players in their thrust to ramp up sales. Overall, there is room for further development in China's smartphone market, which will enable local brands including ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad and Lenovo as well as international players to continue to make headway; the expanding market will also encourage second- and third-tier handset makers in China to also step into the smartphone segment. Samsung Electronics has an opportunity to maintain its top vendor ranking in China in 2013, with Apple second. Using chipset solutions from MediaTek and Spreadtrum Communications, Lenovo will take the third-rank, while Huawei and Coolpad will compete neck and neck for the fourth and fifth rankings, Digitimes Research estimated.
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