Chinese Smartphone Market Facing Slowdown: Survey

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BEIJING – The Chinese smartphone market, which has surpassed the U.S. to become the world’s largest in 2011, is witnessing a slowdown, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

According to a new survey by the global market research firm International Data Corp, smartphone shipments in China fell 4.3 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago for the first time in six years.

The slowdown is largely driven by the disappearance of China’s first-time buyers, the survey said.

In the first quarter, Apple became China’s largest smartphone maker by market share, surpassing Xiaomi on the strength of its popular iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Samsung has fallen to fourth place in China in the first quarter, from the top spot a year ago. Coolpad Group Ltd. was China’s No. 5 smartphone maker last year on the strength of budget phones but fell out of the top five in the first quarter, according to IDC.

According to Tom Kang, research director with market-research firm Counterpoint, “China is now a replacement market”.