Several smartphone makers are beefing up their performance, including ZTE, to secure a share in the devices' Chinese market. (Photo : www.wantchinatimes.com)
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in a statement that China saw 6.88 million new mobile phone users in the first half of 2015.
Data shows that the figure is bringing the country's total mobile phone users to 1.29 billion.
That is more than the smartphone users in Brazil, the U.S. and Indonesia combined, according to Chinese news media.
"Our study published today reveals a vibrant domestic device market that has established the smartphone as a lifestyle hub and digital platform for millions of Chinese citizens," said Hyunmi Yang, chief strategy officer at Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA).
The GSMA study predicted that 4G smartphone connections in China would reach one billion by 2020, up from 100 million at the end of last year, due to the surging popularity of brands like Apple, Samsung and homegrown players including Xiaomi, Lenovo and Huawei.
The ratio of mobile phone users to population was higher than 100 percent in nine provincial-level regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, as well as provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang.
The number of users choosing broadband mobile Internet services (3G and 4G services) reached 674 million by the end of June, accounting for 52.1 percent of all mobile phone users.
Fourth-generation (4G) mobile network, which offers faster Internet access than previous modes, witnessed explosive user growth last month, with total 4G users up 24.69 million from a month earlier to 225 million.
Another data presented by Statista showed that mobile phone users in China increased by 40 million in one year. The statistics compared the mobile phone users from May 2014 to May 2015.
In line with the news, China Mobile, the world’s largest telecom operator based on the number of mobile subscribers, said that it has achieved a 4G LTE customer base of 200 million.
