A total of 107.5 million smartphones were shipped to China in the fourth quarter, up 2 percent from the previous quarter, according to data from the IDC. For the full year, 420.7 million smartphones shipped to China.
The smartphone market in Q4 grew 19 percent from the year before, compared to an advance of 11 percent in the third quarter from the year earlier. The boost came from 4G phones, with 3G phone shipments affected in China by the reduction in operator subsidies. Also, while the share of phones sold through operators dropped, the number of phones sold through eTailers increased, going to double-digit shares from single-digit on sites such jd.com and tmall.com. Apple's launch of larger phones also contributed to the increase in shipments.
For 2015, year-on-year growth for the smartphone market in China is expected to reach close to 10 percent. The increase could get a further boost from operators selling more smartphones via their own online sites, as well as through eTailers.
Xiaomi recorded year-on-year unit growth in 2014 of 186.5 percent, taking its smartphone market share to 12.5 percent from 5.3 percent the year before. Samsung's sales fell by 22.4 percent, taking its market share to 12.1 percent from 18.7 percent. Lenovo's growth went to 13.7 percent, with its market share slipping slightly to 11.2 percent from 11.9 percent. Huawei’s market share rose slightly to 9.8 percent from 9.3 percent, with year-on-year unit growth at 27.4 percent. Coolpad recorded growth of 4.6 percent, with its market declining to 9.4 percent from 10.7 percent.
In the fourth quarter, Apple jumped into second position after Xiaomi, as its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models were only launched in China in the last quarter of the year. Huawei was ranked third, followed by Lenovo and then Samsung.
