Huawei who? Apple what? Oppo tops China shipments in 2016

It wasn’t that long ago that Apple, Huawei and Xiaomi were duking it out for the number one spot in China. But the latest figures show that Oppo has surged to the top.

The mobile brand has always had a strong presence in its home market, but the IDC’s statistics for Q4 2016 show that it claimed 18.1% of the market. This translates to 24.5 million devices shipped. In fact, the IDC claims that this represents year-on-year growth of 109.2% for Oppo.

Meanwhile, Huawei claims second place, with 16.9% marketshare — equivalent to 22.9 million devices shipped. And in third place? Another local powerhouse in the form of Vivo, capturing 16% of the market — or 21.7 million devices shipped.

 

There’s a big gap to fourth placed Apple, sitting on 11% marketshare and 14.9 million units shipped. Interestingly enough, this represents a 12% year-on-year decline for the Cupertino company.

Then there’s another sizeable gap to fifth placed Xiaomi, pegged at 7.4% marketshare and 10.1 million units shipped. This translates to a massive 40% year-on-year drop.

The top five for the quarter also appear in the same order when the entire 2016 year is taken into account.

Oppo has emerged as the star of 2016 in China, capturing the most marketshare, a report found

“2016 was the first time ever that Apple saw a YoY decline in the PRC [People’s Republic of China – ed] market. Even though the new black coloured iPhones caught the attention of consumers, overall, the new launches did not create as much of a frenzy compared to the past,” the IDC report found, adding that the brand is expected to see growth this year (the tenth anniversary of the device).

The report adds that 2016 saw a slowdown in the growth of online retail, with the likes of Xiaomi and Apple opening more retail stores.