Outside of North America and Europe, China represents the next frontier for profits where smartphones are concerned. The competition is fierce and just like here in the West, it seems to be an all-out slug fest.
The two biggest players are of course Android and Apple’s iOS but the clear winner so far—and by a wide margin—is Android. A new report into mobile OS composition in China has shed some light on just how fast Google has managed to embed Android into the smartphone-consciousness of the Chinese. In 2011 Google had just 58.2% of the Chinese smartphone market—by the 3rd quarter of 2012 that figure had jumped to 83% of the market.
Now, according to data released by Analysys International, Android’s total share of the Chinese mobile market is now a staggering 90.1%–an almost complete lockout of anyone else.
Android winning the zero sum game
If Android has 90.1% of the market then it means companies like Apple are fighting over a meager 9.9% market share. The data showed that iOS saw a slight drop in its share from 6% to 4.2%. Nokia had the biggest decline, falling from 6% to a very paltry 2.4% of the overall market share. Analysts have lamented Nokia position especially given that just a few years ago, the Chinese mobile market was dominated by Nokia. But such is the changing tide and right now, companies like Nokia and Apple can only watch as the little green robot charms its way into the hearts and minds of people in China.
A lot of people might be wondering why Android is so dominant but the quick and easy answer is that its dominance is tied to its ubiquity on a broader range of devices. Anyone in China who wants to own an iOS powered device can only go to Apple; Android enthusiast can chose between HTC, Samsung—even knockoff phones, which by many accounts are all powered by Android. But it’s not just smartphones that give Android the edge, the OS is also present on tablet and this has largely helped to push use of Android devices in the last 6 months in China.
When Apple does get the iPhone 5 to go on sale over there, it might have some success in clawing back market share but it won’t be by much. If many people in the U.S. and Europe are struggling to buy the iPhone 5, then the struggle will be an even greater one in China.
For now Google is winning—even if its services are heavily filtered by the Chinese government, its hardware is still the platform upon which local mobile device sales are built. Could this a leverage point for Google in getting more access to China? Quite possibly, but so far the search giant has been reluctant to try its luck in this regard.
One thing is certain and that is the fact that at this rate of growth, Google’s Android will be the only player in the Chinese marketplace in the coming couple of years.
Source: http://www.sitetrail.com/2012/11/16/android-number-one-in-china-90-of-chinese-market-now-using-android-devices/
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