Samsung has been one of the biggest names in the mobile world ever since they burst onto the smartphone scene with the original Galaxy S. Since then, Samsung’s dominance has reduced HTC to a former shadow of themselves and forced other big names like Motorola, Sony and even perhaps LG to fight over what’s left in the world of Android. Samsung has a massive hold on their home country of South Korea, but they’ve also become a dominant force all over the world, especially in North America, Western Europe and farther East in countries like India. In China however, an important market for any big brand in the technology market, Samsung – as well as their main rival, Apple – have been pushed out by the home brands.
As a recent report from Strategy Analytics states, Samsung didn’t manage to make it into the Top 5 in terms of units shipped or market share during Q1 2016. Those top five places went to Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, Vivo and Apple, in that order. Huawei seems to be on something of a roll, taking first place in Q4 of 2015 as well as Q1 of 2016, shipping 16.6 Million units and taking 15.8% market share. Oppo followed them with 13.2 Million units shipped, earning them 12.6% market share. Collectively, the four Chinese brands secured just over half of the market with a 52.5% combined market share between them. It’s surprising to see Apple make it into the top five, and not Samsung, with 11.5 Million units shipped and a 11% market share.
For Samsung, one of the biggest problems might not be their brand – which they continue to cover up in some parts of Asia – but the price of their devices. China has become known as the land of the affordable smartphone, as these devices get better and better, there’s little reason for consumer to pay more for similar specifications and software features. The Xiaomi Mi 5 is a prime example of how Chinese firms are able to deliver great experiences without breaking the bank. What Samsung needs to in order to gain this market share back in China is unclear, but as they’re doing well in India, they might be better off focusing their efforts elsewhere.