Chinese Companies penetrate Top 10 Mobile Phone Rankings in last year

It is hard to keep out the Chinese juggernaut in any big industry particular where technology access is not too difficult. While Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the mobile phone industry with a combined market share of more than 50%, many Chinese companies have managed to penetrate the top 10 rankings in the last year. Using Google’s free Android operating system, these companies have managed to put a good hardware package at very compelling prices. Using the massive domestic market to generate scale, these companies are now targeting foreign markets.

The Chinese companies are adept at capturing the whole global industry rapidly using super cheap labor and capital. Entire industries are now dominated by Chinese players (solar, wind energy, steel etc.). This mobile phone industry won’t be easy for the Chinese to monopolize as significant IP rests in the hands for western companies such as Qualcomm (QCOM), Nokia (NOK) and others. Also western companies can’t be out-competed in costs given that they already manufacture most of the stuff in China and Taiwan. However, their market share will increase as stronger growth is seen in non-developed countries. Big Chinese IT companies like Huawei, Lenova and ZTE are focusing strongly on the mobile phone and tablet market.

Digitimes

HTC has fallen out of the top-10 handset vendor rankings published by Gartner. The smartphone specialist made its first appearance in Gartner’s ranking of the world’s top-10 handset vendors by unit sales in the second quarter of 2010. HTC reported an 81% sequential decline in net profits to NT$1 billion (US$34.4 million) for the fourth quarter of 2012. Compared to a year ago, HTC’s fourth-quarter earnings represented a fall from NT$11.02 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011. Meanwhile, China-based Lenovo and TCL Communication, which focus mainly on the sale of low-cost smartphones, both saw their overall handset shipments register on-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2012, the latest data compiled by Gartner show. Lenovo jumped into the top-10 handset rankings, while TCL stayed at No.7.

China-based Huawei Technologies also had a good fourth quarter, which helped it reach the No. 3 position among smartphone vendors for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2012, Gartner said. Huawei was ranked sixth in the global handset market during the quarter behind LG Electronics and local rival ZTE.