Chinese Smartphones - The Coming Of Age

What Electronic Goods Did for Japan in the 50s & 60s, Smartphones Appear to Be Doing the Same for Brand China, Even as Chinese Smartphone Makers Appear to Be Mastering the Fine Art of Branding and Perception Management Too!

- Haider Ali Khan

Often, the leader in the consumer market is the one who wins the perception battle. But in a highly competitive global market, this is easier said than done. And going by the popular perception not long back, Chinese mobile handsets suffered from low equity and their handset didn’t really carry any brand value. If anything, Chinese phones were an absolute no-no in the hands of even slightly well to do and upwardly mobile.

Come 2016 end and the Chinese handset makers are not only making waves by the volume they are garnering but also how they have gained acceptability bordering on respectability the world over. It’s quite a turnaround in brand perception. In India too, in the last quarter of 2016, Chinese handset makers managed to garner nearly 46% market share in smartphone category. As per recently released IDc’s October- December (cYQ4) 2016 figures, out of the total smartphone of 25.58 million, Korean giant Samsung continued to be the leader by having 25.1 shipment market share but the next four spots were bagged by Chinese handset makers namely Xiaomi (10.7%), Lenovo (9.9%), Oppo (8.6 %) and Vivo (7.6 %) respectively. Even iTel which has just completed its third quarter in Indian market is having a great run. November 2016 was the sterling month for Chinese brands as their share reached an all-time high of 51% of the total smartphone market.

Contrast this to their share of 10% end 2014 and 22% end 2015 (IDc). And it’s not that Chinese manufacturers are only fighting with brands from other countries such as Korea and India but also engaged in a fierce battle among themselves. Meanwhile, online smartphone volume also saw jump by 10 per cent with Xiaomi and Lenovo taking the lead in this segment amounting to more than half of total shipment volume done online.

The Paradigm Shift