Nearly 24 million smartphones were shipped to providers in China during the third quarter of 2011, compared to 23.3 million units in the U.S., data from Boston-based research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics suggests.The growth of China's smartphone market has been significant, up 58% from just the previous quarter. Shipments of smartphones in the U.S. fell 7% from Q2 2011.
(Note the firm's estimates only calculate the number of devices shipped, not sold, and that the U.S. still leads the market by smartphone revenue.)
Many smartphone manufacturers have reported strong sales in Greater China this year. For instance, China accounted for just 2% of Apple's total sales in fiscal 2009, and 12% in fiscal 2011, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the company's fiscal 2011 earnings call. A subsequent 10-K filing attributed the increase primarily to “strong demand” for the iPhone 4. Despite Apple's advances, Nokia still owns the lion's share (28.5%), followed by Samsung (17.6%), says Strategy Analytics. The firm suggested that an "emerging wave" of low-priced Android phones from local manufacturers has helped spur growth in the region.
