Apple Fails to Gain Traction in China's Smartphone Market

Despite all efforts to conquer the world’s potentially largest smartphone market, Apple still struggles to gain a foothold in China. According to Kantar Worldpanel data, iPhones accounted for only 14.7% of smartphone sales in China between March and May 2014. Having brought the iPhone to the world’s largest mobile carrier, China Mobile, in January, Apple’s market share in China was widely expected to increase. However, the opposite seems to be true: Compared to the same period of last year, the iPhone’s share of Chinese smartphone sales dropped 9 percentage points.

Compared to China and Europe, where Android devices account for the lion’s share of smartphone sales, the United States and Japan remain Apple strongholds. In Japan the iPhone even accounts for the majority of smartphone sales. A feat that Apple doesn’t even accomplish in its home market.