Statistics released
yesterday (link via Google Translate) by China’s Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology (MIIT) show that as of the end of November 2012, there
were 1.104 billion mobile phone users in that country, an increase of nearly
118 million people during the first eleven months of 2012. This means that
about 82% of China’s population currently uses a mobile phone. The number of 3G
phone users reached 220 million, or about 20% of mobile phone users. Broadband
Internet service users increased by 24.03 billion in the first 11 months of the
year, while the number of mobile Internet users increased by 111 million to 750
million. From January to November 2012, mobile communications revenue in China
totaled 724.53 billion yuan (or about $116.26 billion US dollars), an increase
of 11% over the same period last year.
The rapid growth of the
Chinese smartphone market means that it is set to top the U.S. iOS and Android
install base next year. According to a research report by Flurry released last
month, China currently has 167 million iOS or Android devices, compared to 181
million in the U.S.
China pulled ahead of
the U.S. in the number of smartphones sold for the first time during Q3 2011
according to Strategy Analytics; during that time frame, 24 million units were
sold in China, compared to 23 million in the U.S.
According to research
by Gartner, Lenovo, the maker of the Android-powered LePhone, is expected to
take the number one smartphone seller slot in China away from Samsung next
year, thanks to its strong brand recognition and portfolio of affordable
phones. Other local brands to watch include Xiaomi Tech (which is positioning
itself as “the Apple of China”), Yulong, ZTE and Huawei. Though the iPhone
continues to be hugely popular in China, that has not been enough to keep
Apple’s share of that country’s smartphone market from eroding.
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