IDC: Samsung plummets on the Chinese market in Q4 2014, Xiaomi remains on top, Apple second
Alas, Samsung is further plummeting down and losing its hard-earned market positions across the world. On the largest smartphone market, the Chinese one, the former leader from South Korea scored yet another heavy blow in 2014, as it first lost the throne to Xiaomi in mid-2014, but that was not all - judging from IDC's most recent report, Samsung has been overtaken by four different rivals and is now the fifth largest smartphone seller by shipments in China.
According to IDC's report, in Q4 2014 Samsung had merely 7.9% of the market, which is half of what it had back in Q4 2013. As a reminder, back then it was the undisputed leader and was yet to fall from the throne. Another proof that the giant is struggling and experiencing some tough competition from its rivals.
| Vendor | Market Share (Q4 2014) | Market share (Q3 2014) | Market share (Q4 2013) | Year-over-year change |
| Xiaomi | 13.7% ▲ | 14.80% | 6.50% | 150% ▲ |
| Apple | 12.3% ▲ | 5.00% | 7.40% | 99.7% ▲ |
| Huawei | 11% ▲ | 9.10% | 10.20% | 28.3% ▲ |
| Lenovo | 9.5% ▼ | 12.80% | 13.20% | -14.3% ▼ |
| Samsung | 7.9% ▼ | 11.00% | 18.80% | -49.9% ▼ |
| Others | 45.60% | 47.20% | 43.90% | 23.50% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
The first place is occupied by local Xiaomi, which scored an impressive 150% year-over-year growth and accounted for 13.7% of all smartphone shipments in Q4 2014. The silver goes to Apple, which also performed quite well in the last period of the year, achieving an respectable result of 12.3% in China - as a comparison, it had just 7.4% of the market the year before.
The third and fourth spots in Q4 2014 go to Huawei and Lenovo, as they have shipped 11% and 9.5% of all smartphones in China in Q4 2014, respectively. As a whole, 107.5 million smartphones got sold in China in the last three months of 2014.
At this pace, Samsung in particular might be hardly found in next year's market standings in China. Of course, if the Samsung Galaxy S6 gets a better reception, this is more likely to change and help the giant get back on its feet. Undoubtedly, it won't be an easy task.
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