Apple drops out of Top 5 in China, Galaxy S III tops iPhone 4S in Q3

The iPhone is the most common smartphone almost everywhere in the world... almost. According to analysts at Canalys, in the third quarter this year Apple dropped out of the Top 5 smartphone makers in the Chinese market.

And it's an important market - according to Canalys again, China became a bigger market than the US earlier this year.

Samsung maintains a tentative lead in China holding 14% of the market, with local maker Lenovo breathing down its neck with 13%.

To rub salt in the wound, Samsung's Galaxy S III took the title of "World's best-selling smartphone in Q3 2012," according to Strategy Analytics. There were 18 million Galaxy S III units sold and "only" 16.2 million iPhone 4S phones. Of course, iPhone 4S sales were down in Q3 because everyone was waiting for the iPhone 5 to launch.

Anyway, back to China. The third place there is surprising - it's held by Yulong, who are not known outside of China, but managed to score partnerships with the country's to major carriers - China Telecom and China Mobile.

Two better known brands round up the Top 5 - ZTE and Huawei. The last three companies have around 10% market share each. Apple is currently sixth with 8% (it had 9% in Q2).

In Q3 this year, there were around 50 million smartphones shipped in China, which is over a third of all smartphones shipped in the whole world for the three month period.

The growth in China comes primarily from cheap models ($70-$120) and the iPhone 4S can't compete with its price of $713 (the iPhone 5 is yet to launch in China, probably in December).

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