According to market research outfit Informa Telecoms and Media, a third of all Android phones sold in 2012 found their way to Chinese consumers. The US market came in second, with an 11 percent share. However, Informa estimates the US market will start to catch up and that two in three phones sold in the US next year will be Android based.
It is estimated that around 786 million smarphones were sold in 2012, a 45 percent increase over 2011. China is by far the fastest-growing smartphone market with a year-on-year growth of 85% in 2012 and this growth is being driven by the explosive demand for Android phones, claims Informa analyst Malik Saadi.
Apple’s iOS and Redmond’s Windows Phone did not fare very well in China. Apple has a 5 percent market share, while WP devices accounted for only 1 percent of sales.
All those rumours of a cheaper iPhone for emerging markets are slowly starting to make sense.
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