Apple drops out of top five smartphone makers in China

1. Samsung

2. Lenovo
3. Coolpad
4. ZTE
5. Huawei

"(The Chinese vendors) are selling their devices at a very low price that can attract first-time smartphone users," Nicole Peng, a Canalys analyst said. "Apple's iPhone is still very expensive and it kind of limits their expansion in the country, when the target audience of where the growth is coming from is at the low-end."

The Chinese market is showing very interesting dynamics with Lenovo quickly rising to the top and having an opportunity to outrun Samsung. Coolpad is a local company that is not widely known outside of China. A brand of Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific, it is another brand that offers affordable smartphones, sometimes even below the $100 mark.

In the third quarter of 2012, smartphone shipments in China stood at more than 50 million units. While most smartphones in the country of over a billion sell for between $70 and $120, the iPhone 4S is priced at the whopping $713 off contract.

source: ComputerWorld