Why Samsung is losing share in China’s LTE smartphone market
Analyzing the key trends for mobile phone companies in 2Q14 (Part 7 of 15)
Samsung loses the top spot in the Chinese LTE smartphone market
In the previous part of this series, we discussed how Xiaomi surpassed Samsung (SSNLF) for the top position in the Chinese smartphone market. 4G or LTE technology adoption is increasing rapidly across the world and especially in China. Samsung has again lost its top position in the Chinese LTE market—although to a different player this time.
According to a report from Counterpoint and as the chart below shows, Coolpad was the top-ranked player in the Chinese LTE market, followed by Samsung, Apple (AAPL), Lenovo (LNVGY), and Huawei. Levovo, which acquired Motorola from Google (GOOGL) earlier this year, is also making rapid strides in this market.
China Mobile started to partner with Samsung’s competitors for its 4G network
According to another report from Counterpoint, China could soon overtake Japan as the second-largest LTE smartphone market after U.S. Chinese telecom operators like China Mobile (CHL) plan to completely roll out 4G technology by the end of 2014. China Mobile is the world’s biggest telecom provider, with 800 million subscribers, so it’s a crucial market for Samsung.
Although Samsung rolled out quite a few LTE smartphones in 2Q14, its prices were way higher than local Chinese players. In 2Q14, the company also had to spend a lot on unloading older smartphone models based on 3G technology in China—especially since consumers are bracing themselves for the rollout of next-generation 4G technology.
The situation started to worsen for Samsung in China as China Mobile started to partner with local Chinese players to sell smartphones on its 4G network.
Browse this series on Market Realist:
