Apple back among top 5 smartphone makers in China with iPhone 5s
06 Nov 2013
The arrival of iPhone 5s in China saw Apple regain its ranking among the top five smartphone makers in the country during the third quarter.
However, it was market leader Samsung Electronics that was able to corner the biggest gains with its smartphone shipments soaring 156 per cent year-over-year.
In China, Apple's market share touched 8 per cent as a result of a 32 per cent year-over-year increase in shipments, research firm Canalys said.
The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c were launched at end of September in the country. It was the first time that China was among the early markets to receive Apple's latest iPhone models. Earlier, Chinese consumers had had to wait for months for devices to arrive in the market.
PC World quoted Nicole Peng, an analyst with research firm Canalys as saying the IPhone 5s was the main driver of the growth.
She added demand for the phone had been so high that the gold-colored "champagne" model initially sold for 10,000 yuan ($1,630) among unofficial sellers in China's grey market, she added.
In another pointer to the strong demand in China, consumers buying the iPhone 5s from Apple's China website have to wait for weeks before the device ships out.
