Bad timing? Smartphone shipments in China fall, just as a new player announces its arrival

By Andy Boxall Published May 11, 2015

qiku phone launch news smartphones — Image used with permission by copyright holder

For the first time in six years, the amount of smartphones shipped in China has fallen, but it’s not deterring new players from entering the market. The drop isn’t much, just 4.3 percent over this time last year, but it shows the market is nearly mature — and manufacturers will turn their attention to pushing upgrades towards existing users, rather than targeting first time owners.

The news comes via ZDNet and from market analysts IDC China, and the company’s research also showed Apple at the top of the shipment charts with 14.7-percent, followed by Xiaomi with 13.7-percent market share. Behind the leading pair in third position is Huawei with 11.4-percent, then Samsung at 9.7-percent and Lenovo with 8.3-percent market share.

Recommended Videos

Interestingly, the story this time last year was very different. Samsung led with 19.9-percent market share, way out ahead of Lenovo with 10.2-percent. Xiaomi and Apple were in third and fourth place respectively, each with around 9-percent share. IDC says the results from early 2015 will set the tone for China throughout the year, and it expects flat growth aside from those switching from feature phones to low-cost smartphones costing less than $150.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

QiKU’s the new name in town, and it’s going to take on Xiaomi

It’s surprising, then, that a new smartphone company has started up in China. It’s called QiKU, and it’s a joint venture between Qihoo 360 Technology and Coolpad. The target? Xiaomi, and probably its second place in the market too. Qihoo 360 makes security software and operates the so.com search engine, while Coolpad is a well-established phone and tablet manufacturer. Coolpad’s one of the top five manufacturers in China, but its market share has suffered at the hands of Xiaomi over the past year.

At QiKU’s launch event, the company promised a wide variety of high-quality phones, which are rumored to start at around $160 — a key price point in IDC’s research. Qihoo 360’s CEO, Zhou Hongyi, said the hardware would be better built than Xiaomi’s, and more affordable. However, no phones have been revealed just yet. According to a report in the China Daily, they may arrive next month. Qihoo also has its own, newly developed mobile operating system, based on Android, which will almost certainly be installed on the new phones.

QiKU’s target of taking on Xiaomi was already ambitious, and has now been made harder by a stabilizing Chinese smartphone market. We’ll bring you more news on the QiKU phones when they’re fully announced.

Topics

Senior Mobile Writer

Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

Mobile

I have the new Mocha Mousse color for the Motorola Razr Plus, and it’s stunning

The Mocha Mousse Motorola Razr Plus in someone's pocket.

The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 stands tall as one of the year's best folding phones. It's highly performant and has good cameras, solid software, and a striking design. That last point was one of my favorite aspects of the phone when I reviewed it this summer, and just in time for the new year, Motorola found a way to ensure the Razr Plus continues to be a design leader heading into 2025.

Earlier this month, Motorola announced its new Mocha Mousse color for the Razr Plus. I thought the renders looked good, but as with any smartphone color, it's difficult to get the full experience until it's in your hands.

Mobile

An Apple insider says a new iPad is coming in spring 2025. Here’s what we know

Someone holding the iPad (2022) with the display turned on.

Apple did not release any new iPads in 2023. However, this year marked a significant change with the introduction of all-new versions of the iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro. Notably absent from this list is the standard iPad, which hasn't been updated in nearly three years. This is expected to change in the coming months. According to MacRumors, Apple plans to release an updated iPad alongside the iPhone SE 4 in spring 2025.

While limited information about the upcoming iPad is available, several details have emerged in recent months. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the new tablet is expected to support Apple Intelligence, just like all iPads released in 2024 do. This support suggests that the 11th-generation iPad will likely have a newer A-series chip and at least 8GB of RAM.

Mobile

MediaTek’s Dimensity 8400 is going to make 2025 phones faster and more efficient

MediaTek Dimensity 8400 SoC visualized on a phone.

MediaTek has just introduced its latest smartphone silicon, and this one promises some big changes for midrange smartphones. The latest offering from the Taiwanese company is the Dimensity 8400 chip, and it will take on Qualcomm’s excellent Snapdragon 7 series Gen 3 processors.

The new MediaTek chipset, however, enters the fray with more firepower than we have ever seen in this segment. That’s because the Dimensity 8400 goes all-in on big cores and ditches efficiency cores, just like its flagship sibling, the Dimensity 9400.