IDC: Chinese Smartphone Shipments To Exceed 360 Million In 2013

The world’s largest smartphone market China shipped 110 million cellphones in the second quarter of this year, of which the shipment of smartphones climbed 10% year-over-year to 86 million sets, according to research firm IDC (report in Chinese). China’s shipment of smartphones will continue to rally, hitting 360 million and 450 million in 2013 and 2014, respectively, according to IDC.

Triggered by the prospects of 4G network and expectations that China Mobile would carry iPhone, IDC predicted that Chinese shipment of smartphones will chalk up 540 million units by 2017.

In the second quarter of this year, the shipment of low-end smartphones boosted the market share of Lenovo and Coolpad, while that for iPhone slumped to 5% and No.6 in the reporting period due to the sluggish sales of iPhone5. However, iPhone is expected to regain the market share with launch of new versions, according to Yan Zhanmeng, analyst with IDC.

Android-enabled smartphones will continue to dominate the market. However, Yan thinks that the market share of Android system will reach its peak in 2013. The market share of iOS will soar in 2014, doulbing the figure of this year. Moreover, handset manufacturers and telecom carriers will be more open to new operating systems in the future with the development Firefox OS, Tizen and Linux-based Ali OS.

China Smartphone OS (2012-2017)

image credit: IDC