Skip to main content

Bad timing? Smartphone shipments in China fall, just as a new player announces its arrival

For the first time in six years, the amount of smartphones shipped in China has fallen, but it’s not deterring new players from entering the market. The drop isn’t much, just 4.3 percent over this time last year, but it shows the market is nearly mature — and manufacturers will turn their attention to pushing upgrades towards existing users, rather than targeting first time owners.

The news comes via ZDNet and from market analysts IDC China, and the company’s research also showed Apple at the top of the shipment charts with 14.7-percent, followed by Xiaomi with 13.7-percent market share. Behind the leading pair in third position is Huawei with 11.4-percent, then Samsung at 9.7-percent and Lenovo with 8.3-percent market share.

Recommended Videos

Interestingly, the story this time last year was very different. Samsung led with 19.9-percent market share, way out ahead of Lenovo with 10.2-percent. Xiaomi and Apple were in third and fourth place respectively, each with around 9-percent share. IDC says the results from early 2015 will set the tone for China throughout the year, and it expects flat growth aside from those switching from feature phones to low-cost smartphones costing less than $150.

QiKU’s the new name in town, and it’s going to take on Xiaomi

It’s surprising, then, that a new smartphone company has started up in China. It’s called QiKU, and it’s a joint venture between Qihoo 360 Technology and Coolpad. The target? Xiaomi, and probably its second place in the market too. Qihoo 360 makes security software and operates the so.com search engine, while Coolpad is a well-established phone and tablet manufacturer. Coolpad’s one of the top five manufacturers in China, but its market share has suffered at the hands of Xiaomi over the past year.

At QiKU’s launch event, the company promised a wide variety of high-quality phones, which are rumored to start at around $160 — a key price point in IDC’s research. Qihoo 360’s CEO, Zhou Hongyi, said the hardware would be better built than Xiaomi’s, and more affordable. However, no phones have been revealed just yet. According to a report in the China Daily, they may arrive next month. Qihoo also has its own, newly developed mobile operating system, based on Android, which will almost certainly be installed on the new phones.

QiKU’s target of taking on Xiaomi was already ambitious, and has now been made harder by a stabilizing Chinese smartphone market. We’ll bring you more news on the QiKU phones when they’re fully announced.

Andy Boxall
Andy has written about mobile technology for almost a decade. From 2G to 5G and smartphone to smartwatch, Andy knows tech.
Apple’s iOS 26 public beta may finally arrive next week
Could apple's iOS 26 beta drop next week?
The control center with Liquid Design on the iOS 26 developer beta 1 running on the iPhone 16 Pro

Why it matters: Apple fans dying to try the latest iPhone OS have faced a wait longer than expected for the iOS 26 public beta, diverging from Apple's usually rapid rollout. A near-term release could help ramp up user testing , work out bugs, and increase excitement ahead of the full launch this fall, especially as rivals like Google push AI-heavy Android updates.

The big idea: Multiple reports suggest Apple is looking at July 23rd for the iOS public beta debut, based on insights from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. This follows the developer beta 3 rollout on July 7, which skipped the typical one-week public follow-up.

Read more
Act fast and save $400 on the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Sapphire Solar
The Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Sapphire Solar in Carbon Gray.

We're getting to the point where it is more and more affordable to get one of the best smartwatches or fitness trackers. The tech has been around for quite some time and we're even to the point where some government officials are wanting everyone to have a health tracker. So, I shouldn't be too surprised to see this deal on the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Sapphire Solar at its lowest price on Amazon, ever, but I am a little bit. I just covered the gray and orange version getting a $250 discount a few months ago and here I am, looking at a different color with a $400 discount. Right now you can get the 47mm, Carbon Gray colored, Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Sapphire Solar for just $500, a very decent drop from its usual $900, by tapping the button below. If you want, however, keep on reading to get a reminder on just how great this smartwatch is.

$500 at Amazon

Read more
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 preorder deals plus $50 credit
The back of the Galaxy Z Fold 7

Samsung Galaxy phones have entered their lucky number 7 era. We've got the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE all coming out later this month. And, if you pre-order now, you can yours by July 25th. Plus, if you pre-order after tapping the button you will receive an additional $50 credit in addition to all other pre-order discounts. This is the strongest pre-order offer available, so be sure to take advantage of it. Tap the button now and start making your selections. Just note that after you hit the button you'll only have 30 minutes to get the $50 credit. As a result, we recommend clicking now and then following along with the pre-order advice guide.

Preorder now

Read more