An attendee sits in front of a signage for smartphone maker Oppo at the Mobile World Congress Shanghai in Shanghai, China. (Photo : Getty Images)
According to the latest report by the International Data Corporation, Oppo, one of China's biggest smartphone vendors, has topped China's smartphone sales this 2016, overtaking Huawei and other big vendors.
China's smartphone market reshuffles as Oppo leads shipment and market share, posting 122.2 percent of growth since last year. The company has shipped over 78.4 million smartphones in 2016 and took 16.8 percent of the smartphone market share, beating Huawei and its sister company, Vivo.
Apple and Xiaomi took the fourth and fifth slots, but with a year-over-year decline of 23.2 percent and 26 percent, respectively.
Oppo, Huawei and Vivo occupied almost half of China's smartphone market. Apple posted its first annual decline as it only accounted for 10 percent of the market share, and Xiaomi only secured 8.9 percent.
According to observers, Chinese customers are not only demanding a good price-to-performance ratio when it comes to smartphones, but also fashionable smart device features that will be able to meet their daily needs and represent their social position.
Oppo and Vivo have steadily developed a strong presence in the smartphone market of China, India and Southeast Asia. Both companies adopted offline sales channels and aggressive advertising campaigns to reach prospective customers.
Huawei and Xiaomi have their own ways to increase market share for the future. Huawei will cover its offline stores to nearly 20,000 Chinese countries in 2017, while Xiaomi will beef up its offline sales in China. It is reported that Xiaomi already opened five authorized stores this year.
The competition among smartphone vendors could be even stiffer after the reshuffle in smartphone market share in 2016. Oppo, Huawei and Vivo have already set their shipment goals and companies on their supply chain would be the beneficiaries.
"Good supplier resources are more and more concentrated in a handful of companies as major smartphone vendors have already seized their own reliable suppliers with reasonable prices and big quantities," said Kevin Wang of IHS Markit, a research firm.
