iPhone Was Top Selling Smartphone in October, Quadrupled Monthly Market Share in China [Chart]

The iPhone 5s was the top selling smartphone in October and helped Apple quadruple its monthly market share in China, reports Counterpoint.

iPhone 5s sales saw an upward sales momentum as Apple continued expansive roll-out for its flagship model thus further widening the gap with its arch rival’s flagship model Samsung’s Galaxy S4. Apple’s iPhone 5s topped the best-seller’s list despite the component shortages causing long waiting periods in several channels. However, we expect supply constraints to ease resulting in supply to meet a relatively stronger demand in November & December.

Apple surpassed Samsung in the U.S. market, maintained its leadership in Japan, and jumped from 3% to 12% market share in China. With China Mobile poised to launch the iPhone, Apple stands to gain even more market share which could ignite a 'price war'.


Counterpoint reports that the Galaxy S4 saw a temporary uptick due to pricing discount in some markets. The Galaxy Note III captured the limelight, pushing the S4 towards the end of its 'flagship lifecycle'. It became the fifth best selling smartphone 40 days after launch.

Samsung’s products took about half of the top 10 list and the top 20 list as it exercised its marketing and distribution muscle to sell its broad and deep Galaxy smartphone portfolio. Few of Nokia’s Asha phones also were in the top 20 list alongside the hit Lumia 520 which drove the Windows Phone momentum across prepaid markets of Europe, US and Asia during October. Meanwhile, TCL-Alcatel and Huawei had one device each in the top 20 bestselling list.

More details in the full report linked below...

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