Domestic Brands Dominate China's Smartphone Market in Q2: Counterpoint

Smartphone shipments in China grew a modest 3 percent annually during the second quarter, with top four of its domestic brands capturing close to 69 percent of the market, new research said on Monday.

According to Counterpoint Research, Huawei and Vivo are the fastest growing brands followed by Oppo and Xiaomi, together cementing the top four spots and extending their lead over Apple and Samsung by a widening margin.

"June seasonally is a strong month for China as it is usually buoyed by portfolio upgrades from major brands such as Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. The top four Chinese brands now capture close to 69 per cent of the market as these brands have raced ahead of international and other local brands," said James Yan, Research Director at Counterpoint, in a statement.

Apple's performance continue to be seasonal, while Samsung is losing out to the Oppo-Vivo onslaught in offline.

Xiaomi made a surprise comeback after being on the decline for several quarters against Huawei's Honor brand.

"Huawei continued to capture the top spot this quarter ahead of rivals Oppo and Vivo, shipping higher volumes into the channels. Huawei's Nova, Enjoy series along with flagship P10 were in strong demand during the quarter," noted Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint.

Oppo and Vivo were well positioned in the fast-growing $100-$199 and affordable premium $300-$399 segments catering to demand from tier-1 cities to tier-4 towns.

Xiaomi saw an uptick growing 20 percent year-on-year, almost doubling the volumes sequentially after a dip in the first quarter.

"The key reason behind the comeback can be attributed to strong demand for its latest flagship Mi 6 and low-tier models such as Redmi Note 4X as well as focus on diversifying distribution channels," the research firm said.