Apple Pushes and Pulls in International Markets

(Continued from Prior Part)

Samsung sees share halved

In the first part of this series, we learned that China’s smartphone market has declined for the first time in six years. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this decline is the steep fall in Samsung’s fortunes in China (MCHI). Samsung’s smartphone shipments to China declined by 53% year-over-year in 1Q15. Samsung’s market share there has been cut in half.

As the chart below shows, Apple’s (AAPL) share of the Chinese market has increased rapidly in the same time frame, and Xiaomi and Huawei have also gained share. We discussed Apple’s growth in China in the previous part of the series. Samsung and Lenovo are the major losers in this market.

Samsung’s loss affects Android’s position also

Samsung’s drastic loss of market share has meant that Google’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Android market share has also taken a hit in China. Samsung adopted the Android operating system for its smartphones.

According to a report from consumer research firm Kantar Worldpanel, Android’s share of China’s smartphone operating system market has dropped from 77% in December 2014 to 72% in March 2015. During the same time period, Apple’s iOS share increased from 21.5% to 26.1%. The market shares of Microsoft (MSFT) Windows and BlackBerry (BBRY) operating systems remain negligible in China.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:

• Part 1 - What’s at Stake for Apple as China’s Smartphone Market Declines?

• Part 3 - Apple Hopes to Introduce Apple Pay Service in China Soon

• Part 4 - Alibaba Could Partner with Apple Pay Service in China