China is known for pushing innovations in consumer electronics, especially in the smartphone segment. So as we near a new year, we’ve made a list of 3 Chinese smartphones that are quite unique. This could be in the design department or even some cool new features. So let’s check them out.

Meizu Lucky 08

Meizu is known for launching smartphones with sleek and attractive designs with the Lucky 08 being no different. While it is a mid range model, it has a very interesting design that includes what Meizu calls a Star Track camera system. The Chinese brand is also going big on Artificial Intelligence. Meizu’s Flyme AIOS arrives with various smart features like automatic call answering, call summarization, and AI powered shopping assistant.

Although, its design is easily one of the highlights. Despite being a mid range phone, the smartphone features a gorgeous design with a metal frame, ultra slim bezels, and the unique and head turning Star Track camera module design. Some notable features include the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SoC, massive 6,000mAh battery, 108MP main rear camera that is orbited by a 2MP macro shooter, and 5000 nits of peak brightness.

Nubia Neo 2

Nubia is known for its gaming smartphones and the Neo 2 is one such model that debuted earlier this year. While its Red Magic sub brand is popular for its flagship gaming devices, the Nubia Neo 2 arrives as a budget friendly option. But the aspect that makes it unique is the shoulder triggers on this device despite its 199 US Dollar price tag. This handset is equipped with the UNISOC T820 SoC, which is a 6nm based process.

Pairing this with a 120Hz display, gaming is a great option for mobile gaming fans on a budget. For under 200 US Dollars, buyers get pressure sensitive zones that are basically gaming triggers. This design element is usually reserved for more powerful and expensive smartphones.

Nubia Music

Nubia had unveiled another unique smartphone in this year. During the MWC 2024 event, the Nubia Music is also budget device with a loud twist. For just 149 US Dollars, you get a unique smartphone that has a massive speaker unit on the back. From afar, the circular speaker system looks like a round camera module.

Thanks to this dedicated enlarged speaker unit, the Nubia Music can achieve 600 percent higher volume than other smartphones using AI driver extreme volume algorithms, optimizing treble and bass frequencies. Other notable features included a 6.6-inch IPS LCD display, 50MP main rear camera, UNISOC SC9863A SoC, and a large 5,000mAh battery pack.

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Chinese smartphone brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, and OnePlus have been dominating the smartphone market in India. These aren’t restricted to just affordable models, but even the higher end flagship phones as well. They often come packed with high-end features at competitive prices, giving stiff competition to veteran brands like Apple and Samsung. But are these Chinese flagship smartphones really worth buying in India? Here are all the Pros and Cons.

Competitive Pricing and Value for Money

One of the biggest advantages of Chinese flagship smartphones is their competitive pricing. Brands like Xiaomi and OnePlus are the best examples of this. From their entry into the Indian market, they have consistently offset the flagship pricing expectations. While they aren’t as aggressively affordable as before, these still offer impressive value.

The OnePlus 13 starts in China for under $700 but offers cutting edge hardware. The front has a tall 2K+ OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 4500 nits of peak brightness. It is equipped with Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Elite and features three 50MP flagship grade cameras on the back with Hasselblad tuning. You also get a massive 6,000mAh battery pack with 100W wired and 50W wireless fast charging. So it’s a complete package of top notch specs and features, despite costing less than even an iPhone 16 or Galaxy S24.

Cutting-Edge Features and Innovations

Chinese brands are known to be the first to adopt new technology, which are not proven in the market. These companies also push the envelope in features as well. Smartphones from China innovated in fast charging, advanced camera setups, high refresh rate displays, and more. Samsung is seen as one of the leaders for a premium Android experience but it still lags behind in charging speeds. This is something even Apple refuses to improve upon, and it gets worse considering how their latest $800 iPhone 16 still offers a 60Hz refresh rate.

Software Experience

Flagship smartphones from China are often feature packed not just in hardware, but also in the software side. However, the overall software experience can be a mixed bag. Every brand has their own spin on Android with unique custom skins which are heavily modified. In recent years, Oppo with its ColorOS has made massive improvements in its UI. But the stigma of Chinese Android UI’s being packed with bloatware still holds some ground.

Unlike Apple, Android users don’t get seamless continuity between different brands. So switching from Samsung’s One UI to Xiaomi’s MIUI can be more jarring than one would think, despite both platforms being on Android. One may prefer the former but might not like the look of the latter.

Privacy and Data Concerns

Another notable con is privacy concerns. Indian consumers hesitate to buy Chinese smartphones due to data privacy with the Indian government being wary of these brands as well. Military personnel were outright banned from using these devices as well in the past. There are constant reports and controversies regarding data collection, potential security risks, and much more. Finding concrete proof for any particular Chinese company isn’t easy, but this factor could be a deal breaker for privacy-conscious buyers.

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The global smartphone market, which has been in a downturn, is showing signs of revival due to the release of new models from major manufacturers like Huawei and Xiaomi. Research from Zheshang Securities suggests that the market is emerging from an adjustment phase, and Southwest Securities notes a substantial reduction in inventory levels over the past six quarters among major smartphone manufacturers and component companies. These reduced inventories are now approaching a healthy balance, indicating a forthcoming industry recovery.

Huawei Mate 60 and Xiaomi 14 Lead the Way in Chinese Smartphone Industry Recovery

Huatai Securities anticipates a moderate rebound in specific sectors like panels, passive components, storage, certain modules, and mobile chips in the third quarter. This recovery is expected to positively impact companies within the smartphone industry chain during the latter half of the year.

In the third quarter of 2023, the Chinese smartphone market saw a 5% year-on-year decline in shipment volume, according to Canalys. However, this decline is showing signs of easing, indicating a gradual market recovery.

Huawei’s Mate 60 and Xiaomi’s 14 series have played a crucial role in the recent turnaround of the Chinese smartphone market. The Mate 60 series, despite U.S. technology restrictions, has made a significant impact, directly competing with Apple’s iPhone 15. In October, Huawei achieved an impressive 83% increase in sales, while the iPhone 15 only experienced an 11% growth, raising speculation about Huawei’s potential global resurgence.

In contrast, Apple’s waning demand in China has opened the door for local brands like Xiaomi to capitalize on the opportunity. Xiaomi’s market valuation saw a remarkable recovery, increasing by $20 billion after a low in June, fueled by successful smartphone launches, expansion into electric vehicles, and diversification into other business areas. This recovery was reflected in a 60% rise in Xiaomi’s stock, leading the Hang Seng Tech Index.

Xiaomi‘s success isn’t just confined to the stock market. The 14 series has been a consumer hit, garnering over a million orders since its announcement in October. Analysts point to Xiaomi’s growth potential not only in the smartphone sector but also in AIoT and their upcoming electric vehicle venture. Counterpoint Research’s data supports this optimism, highlighting Xiaomi as the only top-five smartphone brand to record shipment increases in key markets like China and India in the third quarter of 2023.

Overall, the recovery of the smartphone market appears to be in motion, aided by these new product launches and strategic shifts by key players. However, for a sustained recovery, companies within the industry will need to continue focusing on innovation, enhancing product quality, and managing production and supply chain efficiencies.

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Russia, the largest country in the world, has seen major changes in its phones, tablets, laptops, and household appliances market due to the withdrawal of western brands like Apple, Samsung, DJI, Ericsson, and more. As a result, experts are predicting that 90% of the brands sold in Russia will soon be Chinese.

The ongoing Ruso-Ukrainian War has forced the United States and the EU to take restrictive measures against Russia, significantly changing the smartphone and tech landscape in the country.

The smartphone market has been the most dynamic of all, considering the top 7 selling brands in the first half of 2022 have all been Chinese. Namely, Realme, Vivo, Xiaomi, Tecno, Infinix, ITel and Nokia.

Kommersant, a Russian media outlet was told in Marvel Distribution- one of the largest broad-line IT distributors in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, that more than 100% year-on-year growth was shown by the Tecno, Infinix, Realme, and Xiaomi devices in 2022.

Notably, Realme had sold only 498,000 units in the first half of 2021 in the country. However, this year, it has already sold more than 1.1 million units.

Growth in Chinese smartphone sales

Year-on-year unit sales grew significantly for brands like POCO (16%), Nokia (40%) while Apple’s and Samsung’s market share decreased by 14% and 15% year-on-year respectively.

Unit sales of brands like Tecno grew more than 20X in the last couple of months. Digma Electronics also saw positive growth of 8X in the same period. According to Yandex Market, the share of Chinese IT brands increased twofold year over year in the first quarter.

If experts are to be believed, the market may open its arms to brands such as Kimtigo, Akimojeba, Domfy, and Chuwi. According to M.Video-Eldorado, the largest Russian consumer electronic retail chain, “considering the shifting market conditions,” buyers are more inclined to pay attention to obscure or new brands mostly produced by Chinese, Turkish, or Russian companies.

There is a shortfall of spare components on the market in addition to the lack of ready-made devices. As a result, on June 28, the Russian Federation’s President signed legislation legalizing parallel imports in the country.  Parallel Import enables you to import goods into the country without the official permission of the brand.

On May 6, the Ministry of Industry and Trade authorized a list of such goods, which included smartphones and electronics (Apple, Asus, HP, GoPro, Samsung, Dell, LG, Toshiba), household appliances (Electrolux, Dyson, Philips), and other items. Remarkably, smartphone deliveries have already begun under the parallel import approach.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4M2SvejFKk[/embedyt]

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The latest Counterpoint Market Pulse Report for the Chinese smartphone market has highlighted some highs and lows in the market until the end of June 2021. The report indicates that Xiaomi was the fastest growing brand within the second quarter of the year, and Vivo has the largest market share of 23% during the period under review.

The Counterpoint report also showed that the second quarter of the year saw the lowest sales numbers since 2012, with 75 million smartphones sold. While there was a 13% dip QoQ in Q2 2021, a 7% decline YoY was also reported. The numbers paint a varied picture of the state of the Chinese smartphone market. It could also indicate that the effects of the coronavirus pandemic may still be felt after a tortuous 2020 for China. However, there could be several other factors contributing to the shrinking of the market. The US ban on Huawei, coupled with its actions to shed some businesses, could also be part of the reasons for the decline.

Xiaomi and several Chinese brands, and even Apple experienced some significant improvements while Huawei was the biggest loser. Huawei’s market share plummeted from 32% in 2020 to the current 10% as of Q2 2021. Xiaomi grew fastest with a 70% performance year-on-year. The number reflects Xiaomi’s rapid expansion plans that have seen it scale up its presence in lower-tier locations with several offline outlets.

The Counterpoint report also predicts a quick bounce-back of the Chinese smartphone market in Q3, as the fundamentals remain bright. The rebound could be driven by some inherent factors, including a resurgent Honor brand, which continues to expand and experienced a decent growth trajectory and fast-rising market share.

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(source)

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Chinese market research firm CINNO Research has released its smartphone sales ranking for the Chinese market for last year. The data shows that the entire smartphone market saw an estimated gross shipment of 305 million smartphones. The shipment saw a 21% decline year-on-year as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic which crippled economic activities in China last year.

The datat shows that Huawei still retained the number one spot as the topmost smartphone brand in 2020. Vivo (including iQOO) is ranked on the second spot while OPPO a fellow BBK subsidiary is at the third spot. The top-three brands accounted for 56% of the domestic smartphone shipments last year.

Huawei is reported to have shipped an estimated 68.8 million smartphones inn 2020, giving it a 22.6% share of the market. Although the company’s total sales fell by 23% due to the impact of sanctions, Huawei still relied on its strength and strong performance in the first three quarters to maintain the first position.

Vivo followed Huawei closely with an estimated 53 million units shipment, ranking second and this translates to a 17.4% market share. The brand’s gross shipment fell by 23% year-on-year, though.

OPPO occupies the number 3 spot, raking in an estimated 48.8 million mobile phones in 2020, representing 16% share of the market, slightly lower than Vivo’s. The brand’s shipment also declined by 23% year-on-year which is not much different from vivo sales.

Apple completed the top five spots while Honor clinched the fourth spot. It is worthy of note that even though Apple came in at number 5, the Cupertino-based company is the only brand that had a positive year-on-year growth among the top five on the list. Apple’s annual sales volume was 38.7 million units, an increase of 13% year-on-year, and the brand’s market share was 12.7%. Apple’s growth is attributed to the superb market performance of the iPhone 12 series.

Other manufacturers on the list include Xiaomi occupies the sixth position, Realme in seventh, Samsung in the 8th position and OnePlus occupying the 9th spot.

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A recent Chinese government report has shown that domestic smartphone shipments in the country last year declined by 20.4% from 2019 as the number of handsets delivered to consumers dropped from 372 million in 2019 to 296 million last year.

The data emanated from the China Academy of Information and Communications (CAICT), an authoritative think tank in such matters. The report showed both the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the supply chain and demand and the emerging consumer behavior of retaining their phones for a longer period before upgrading to a new model.

From the CAICT data, there was a decline of 4% in shipments of smartphones in 2019 from the previous year, 2018. Therefore, a trend of year-on-year reduction in shipment figures has been established with the recent data.

Smartphone and other mobile phone retailers had expected that the outgone year, 2020 would have engendered renewed sales, as Chinese consumers purchased new phones compatible with the country’s rapidly-expanding 5G networks.

The negative impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, whose epicenter at the earlier stages was Wuhan was already visible in the mid-year sales results, as several Chinese companies had steep declines in their shipment numbers including Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi. However, the global powerhouse and 5G leader, Huawei continued to post record growth within the same period.

In the second half of 2020, sales numbers of Huawei slowed down as trade restrictions imposed by the US government on the company took effect, almost crippling some aspects of its production quota, and thus the supply end was negatively impacted.  The restriction has therefore afforded Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi to ramp up their production numbers with the hope of filling the void created by Huawei.

A total of 25.2 million smartphones were shipped to China last month, which reflected a 12.8% year-on-year decline, according to the CAICT report.

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Smartphones have become an essential part of our lives. This has also led to the incredible growth of the used phone market. The selling price of a used smartphone now influence buyers when making a purchase and if you were wondering which were phones had the best resale value, here’s a reference list from China. Huishoubao, China’s leading used phone platform has just released the list of smartphones with the best resale value. 

According to the list, the smartphone with the best resale value in the first half of 2019 was none other than the OnePlus 7 Pro. This isn’t surprising given the brand’s incredible popularity in China as well as abroad. The latest OnePlus flagship brings top-end specs including a pop-up camera at a competitive price tag. Plus, OnePlus is known for its solid software support with even models like the three-year-old OnePlus 3T getting the new Android Pie update. These factors explain why OnePlus 7 Pro tops the chart with a maximum resale value of nearly 77% of its cost price. 

The second and third place are occupied by the Huawei P30 duo. These two models have one of the best camera setups in the market right now, so getting a used unit is still worth the price. Not to mention Huawei’s brand value has surged in the past few months especially after the US ban when the Chinese went all patriotic to support the company.

In the fourth place is yet another smartphone that offers excellent value for money – the Redmi K20 Pro. So it’s no surprise that people looking to buy a used smartphone are ready to pay nearly 68% of its original selling price for this model. Oneplus 7, Honor View 20, OPPO Reno Zoom, Xiaomi Mi 9, and OPPO K3 take the remaining spots from the fifth place to the tenth place respectively. 

Editor’s Pick: Analyst claims Huawei shipments will break 260 Million units in 2019

It is worth noting that flagships from Samsung like the Galaxy S10+ or the S10 are way down in the list with the best offer being just over 50% of its official cost price. In case you are wondering, Apple’s iPhones were not mentioned in this list because the Cupertino giant didn’t release any new models in the first half of 2019. This list covers all smartphones that were released from Jan 1, 2019, to June 30, 2019. The resale ratio is calculated by dividing the best resale value for a model by its official selling price of a new model.

The entire list can be found down below. 

UP NEXT: New color variant unveiled for the Redmi Note 7 series

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Market research firm Canalys today announced its annual shipment data for the Chinese smartphone market for 2018. The data shows that the  Chinese market experienced the most dramatic decline in shipment in its entire history. The industry recorded an estimated gross shipment of 396 million units, shrinking the overall market size to the level before 2014.

The data shows the top five mobile phone manufacturers still continue to grow, obviously at the detriment of smaller OEMs. Their combined market share grew significantly from 73% in 2017 to 88% in 2018. Despite the decline, Huawei still ranked number one in market share with an estimated 15% increase in shipment YoY.  Another company whose shipments increased tremendously is Vivo with a 9% growth compared to 2017. OPPO still maintained its second spot but the gap between OPPO and Vivo shrunk from 10 million to 2 million units. Vivo’s rise is strongly connected to the company’s innovative products such as the Vivo NEX etc.

Read Also: Redmi X leaked poster hints February 15 launch

Xiaomi came in at the fourth spot with a slight increase in its market share from last year. While Apple is the only international brand still making a mark in the Chinese market but with a decline in its market share. Apple’s gross shipments fell for the third consecutive year and this is linked to the rise of Chinese brands who offer quality flagship phones at almost half the price of Apple’s own flagships.

(via)

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This year is said to be the year of 5G. Network operators are planning to roll out coverage to more cities and a number of manufacturers all have 5G phones in their lineup for the year. These 5G smartphones are expected to sell for more and it has been reported that Chinese manufacturers may set a price range for them.

DigiTimes reports that sources in Taiwan’s supply chain have said that Chinese phone makers may adopt a “5G+500” formula. This means 5G phones will cost about ¥500 more (~$74).  The breakdown for the increase is given as about $50 for 5G modem and application processors and about $30 for new antennas, circuit boards, and other related materials.

Consumers should be able to afford the new pricing and manufacturers should still be able to make profits while still recording an increase in growth.

READ MORE: ZTE with China Unicom Makes Its First 5G Phone Call in Shenzhen

The first gen 5G phones will be powered by modems from Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung, and Intel. Other chip manufacturers are also planning to unveil 5G modems later this year.

(Source)

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2018 was an interesting year for smartphones. In the pursuit of slimming down the bezels around the display, manufacturers came up with a number of different ideas. Last year, a number of manufacturers became bolder in releasing experimental products and consumers were more accepting in trying out first generation models. As a result, we saw some revolutionary smartphones make it to the market, many of them from Chinese manufacturers.

Here’s what we think were the 7 Most Revolutionary Chinese Smartphones of 2018

1. Huawei P20 Pro

You can’t really start this list without the Huawei P20 Pro. The phone was the first triple camera smartphone in the world and justified the existence of three lenses at the back with its amazing camera performance. It’s no surprise that the phone turned out to be one of the best camera smartphones of 2018 (our review here)! Even today, it’s the best-ranked flagship in the DxOMark rating for smartphone cameras.

That’s not it though! The phone also kicked off the trend for gradient back design. The Morpho Aurora P20 Pro (our hands on reivew here!) was a refreshing smartphone design and soon, it caught on among other manufacturers as well!

2. Vivo Nex S / OPPO Find X

Vivo was relentless in the pursuit of getting maximum real estate on its smartphones. This led to the birth of the Vivo APEX concept and eventually, the Vivo Nex S model for the commercial market. Featuring a motorized camera setup for selfies, the phone took the full-screen design to the next level.

Vivo was soon joined by OPPO with its Find X model launch in June (they had their reasons to not call it the Find 9). The Find series always had a special place among smartphone enthusiasts and seeing the lineup come back to life in the form the Find X was a sight to behold. Featuring SuperVOOC (limited to Lamborghini edition), a full-screen design, a motorized slider, and an impressive body design, the Find X was a glimpse of smartphone’s future. Definitely revolutionary!

3. POCO F1

Ever since OnePlus smartphones started to climb up the pricing ladder, they no longer deserved the ‘Flagship Killer’ title. But in 2018, we found something that did deserve this tagline — the POCO F1. Featuring the flagship Snapdragon 845 chipset at a price under $300, this particular model is as close as any phone can get to this title.

Not just that, you didn’t have to wait for an invite code or try out your luck in 10 flash sales to get hold of a unit. In fact, the POCO F1 was truly an international model which went on sale in over 50 markets worldwide.

4. Lenovo Z5 Pro GT

Lenovo was the last company we would have thought that would get the bragging rights to the first mass-produced Snapdragon 855 smartphone. But with the Lenovo Z5 Pro GT, it deserves much more than that. The phone is also the first one to feature up to 12GB of RAM on board! It’s definitely overkill considering our current entertainment and gaming needs, but still impressive. The phone starts at an affordable $391 and will be up for pre-orders in China from January 15. The first sale is slated for January 24.

5. Huawei Mate 20 X

The Mate 20 X with its humongous 7.2-inch display borders near the tablet category. But for all purposes, it’s a smartphone and acts like one despite its huge display. Our reviewers loved this phone for its huge display, powerful internals, and an amazing camera. You should definitely check out our review from here!

If you think a 7.2-inch display is an overkill, think again. People who consume a lot of videos and games on their smartphones would love such a large screen in their hands. What makes the phone revolutionary is the fact that it’s smaller in size as compared to other phablets like the Xiaomi Mi Max 3 (176.2 x 87.4 x 8 mm) or older ones like Lenovo Phab2 Pro (179.8 x 88.6 x 10.7 mm) or Zenfone 3 Ultra (186.4 x 93.9 x 6.8 mm)! Basically, you get more screen in a form factor that’s considered manageable in the phablet segment.

6. Nubia X

Nubia is a driven company and we’ve been impressed with their Z series models featuring bezel-less design. However, in the pursuit of a higher screen to body ratio, the company decided to go for a second screen at the back. While we have seen smartphone companies try out a secondary screen (like the LG V20) on their regular models, this one’s a full-fledged 5.1-inch OLED display at the back. This second screen basically eliminates the need for a selfie camera, allowing the company to use a clean front design. Ingenious or stupid, that’s for you to decide. But it’s definitely an innovative way to get rid of the bezel on top of the display without having to resort for ugly notches or moving parts like a slider. It’s no surprise that Vivo decided to release its own dual screen flagship a couple of months later called the Vivo Nex Dual.

7. Huawei Nova 4 / Honor View 20.

Punch hole cameras are the next big experiment in smartphone display design and Huawei has kicked off this trend with its Nova 4 and Honor V20 smartphones. Samsung also joins the party with its Galaxy A8S model, but overall, with two mainstream models in the market so early, the Chinese tech giant seems to be all in for this particular design.

Another highlight of the Honor View 20 is its unique back design. Huawei and Honor have consistently managed to churn out unique designs for its smartphones and the trend continues with the new model as well.

To sum up, 2018 was an exciting year for Chinese smartphone enthusiasts! But this year is going to be even better with foldables hitting the market. So we are definitely looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us! 

Do you think we missed out on any other revolutionary Chinese phones in this list from 2018?  Let us know in the comments below!

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AnTuTu is best known for its benchmark app which is a good reference point for the performance of smartphones especially based on their processor power. The outfit equally evaluates the price points of the top selling phones based on their prices and AnTuTu score to give a ranking of the most value for money models in the various pricing categories. Here is the ranking for the month of August 2018 and the price used in the ranking is that with which the models are sold in China.

In the under 1000 yuan price category (0-999 yuan) the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 3GB + 32GB version offers the best value for your money. The model was launched in March this year with a starting price of 1,099 Yuan (~$171) for the 3GB + 32GB version. The model had its price slashed by 100 yuan and now sells for 999 yuan. Even outside China, third-party retailers sell the model for around 169.99 which is pretty cheap for a Snapdragon 636-powered phablet. The Meizu M6s 3GB+32Gb version follows at the second spot while Xiaomi’s budget Redmi 6A comes in at the third spot.

For the 1000-1999 yuan pricing category, 360 Mobiles known for its premium but affordable models occupy the top 2 spots with the 360 N7 Lite 4GB+32GB version at the top spot and the 360 N7 4GB+32GB on the second position. Huawei’s Honor Play (4GB+64GB) is another value for money phone which has equally got lots of positive reviews. The list also contains the Xiaomi Mi 6X (4GB+32GB) or Mi A2 if you like. The Snapdragon 710-powered Mi 8 SE follows as well as the Nova 2s, Smartisan Nut Pro 2s, Vivo Z1, 360 N6 Pro and Lenovo Z5.

The next category in the AnTuTu best value for money ranking is 2000-2999 yuan price category which comprises of flagship models. Top of the pack is the Meizu 16th 6GB+64GB version with 108 points which is not a surprise. This is closely followed by the Mi 8 (6+64GB) with 105 points and on the third spot is Xiaomi’s Black Shark gaming phone (6+64GB). Other smartphones that offer value for money include the Mi Mx 2s, Honor V10, Mi Mix 2, Smartisan R1, Honor 10, Nubia Red Magic and Z17s.

Read Also: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Red Edition launched in India

For models priced above 3000 yuan, the Meizu 16th Plus (6GB+128GB) offers buyers optimum value for their money based on its configuration. OnePlus 6 (6GB+64GB) version and Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition 8GB+128GB are also great value for money models. Vivo NEX and Honor 10 GT completes the top 5.

(source)

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Research firm Counterpoint Research has released its statistical data for smartphone shipments in China for the entire quarters of 2017. The statistical data shows the global smartphone market shares for Q3 2017 as well as the mobile phone market shipment comprising both smartphones and feature phones.According to the report, last year was a not so positive one for the market in China as sales volume grew by 5% but there was a 1% drop in smartphone shipments compared to the previous year. Shipments took a dive with a  4% drop in market shares YoY in Q4 2017 but in Q3, shipments were up by 5% when compared to the same period last year. Counterpoint’s James Yan, a research director explained that the year 2017 was a tough one for the Chinese handset makers due to a reduction in smartphone shipments. This is said to be due to the huge shipments made in 2016 to balance the huge marketing expenditures in the second half of the year which led to the need to clean up the inventory accumulated in 2016 last year. The surge in full-screen models being launched in China was in a way a move to get many buyers to replace their smartphones with new models which would help the overall sales. But then this created a lot of inventory of older models which had to compete with the new full-screen models.

Read More: 7 Most Beautiful Chinese Smartphones of 2017

On the individual OEM scale, Huawei emerged as the number one Chinese smartphone brand. Huawei’s shipments increased by 8% in the fourth quarter of 2017 and in the entire year it grew by 19% YoY. Thus, the company is the number one manufacturer n China last year. Don’t forget also that Huawei still ranks among the top 3 global manufacturers. Huawei is closely followed by OPPO with an 18% growth and then Vivo is at number 3 with 17% compared to 2016’s 14% growth. China’s Apple, Xiaomi came in at the number 4 spot after resurging from a turbulent 2016. The company saw its market share grow by just 1% from 11% in 2016 to 12% last year. U.S giant Apple Corp. completes the top five with an 11% shipment. Apple’s market share remained stagnant at 11% which is a result of slumping sales last year. Also worthy of note is the huge drop in the gross shipments by other mobile phone vendors from 33% to 23%.

(source)

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Since 2009, the smartphone market in China has always grown until 2016, according to the market research firm Canalys. In the recent years the growth has been much smaller, but the market at least was going up. But in 2017, for the first time, smartphone sales in China fell. In 2017 fewer devices have been sold in China, compared to 2016. To be accurate, in 2017, 459 million smartphones were shipped in China, which is 4% less than the number of units shipped in 2016. The most important decline was registered in Q4 2017 (from October to December), in which 14% less devices were sold compared to Q4 2016.

According to Canalys, Huawei is actually the best smartphones brand in China with 90 million devices shipped in 2017. Right after Huawei are Oppo and Vivo, owned by the same tech giant BBK. At the 4th place we can find Apple, then at the 5th place, there is the Chinese Apple (Xiaomi). In Q4 2017 , Huawei has sold more units than Oppo and Vivo: 24 million, compared to 19 million and 17 million of its opponents. The analysts think that Q4 2017 is the best quarter ever registered in China for Huawei, but it is the exact opposite for the Chinese smartphones market in general.

Talking about Huawei, the most successful devices were the Honor line-up, which represents more than half of the units shipped by Huawei in 2017. On the other hand, there are companies that are becoming weaker in the Chinese market, like Meizu, Gionee, Lenovo, and ZTE. Indeed, if we look at the success rate of their latest flagships, we can easily understand that it was a bad year for them. If this continues, it would mean Huawei would grow further while other brands decline in terms of sales, thereby increasing the gap between these companies. Further, the lead would help Huawei take on the top two players in the market and overtake them in the coming years. So, this trend is great for Huawei but bad for the Chinese smartphone market in general.

(Via)

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The Chinese smartphone market continues to get more saturated and competitive as jostle for smartphone components is said to have created a supply gap. A good number of the OEMs get their supplies from the same components suppliers both in China and Taiwan and in this sort of situation, orders sometimes get out of hand with the suppliers slow to deliver. This is said to have prompted some players in the industry such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, and LeEco to adopt a more conservative approach towards placing orders with upstream component suppliers., according to sources from Taiwan’s handset supply chain.

This much was disclosed by sources from Taiwan’s handset supply chain, who also hinted that there is a backlog of orders which are yet to be delivered, dating back to as far as the fourth quarter of 2016. This is said to have prompted some smartphone manufacturers to delay the launch of new models from Q1 2017 to Q2, 2017.

A saturated smartphone market often lead to a reduction in the unit price of models in order to keep it competitive among brands of similar specs. This sort of strategy may be unconnected to the low-profit margin declared by Huawei in 2016 despite shipping a record 139 million smartphone units last year. The company is now set to consolidate its handset team in order to reduce operating costs, according to inside source. Xiaomi and LeEco were forced to announce price increases for some of their models recently in order to shore up their earnings. But unfortunately, the hike in price resulted in a reduction in sales, thus they are said to have also adopted conservative measures in placing orders for components.

Read Also: MWC 2017 Sees Another Chinese Innovative Tech: In-Display Fingerprint Sensor

If the top-end smartphone vendors could the least be affected by this, then the second-tier verndors wold be the worse hit. Rising components prices and reduction in demands are some of the challenges they’ll have to tackle this year. There are speculations already that the Chinese smartphone shipments would fall below 100 million units in Q1 2017, a huge drop from the 130 million recorded in Q4 2017.

(via)

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A recent analytic data by Singapore-based research firm Canalys has again given Huawei the overall lead in total smartphone shipments among the lot in  China. The research data shows Huawei shipped a total of 76.2 million units in 2016, while OPPO  followed with a total estimate record of 73.2 million shipments. Fellow Chinese giant Vivo followed suit, with a total of 63.2 million.

The analytic data also revealed that a record 131.6 million units were shipped in the fourth quarter of last year alone.This figure is the single highest performance in a quarter in the history of the Chinese smartphone market. The Chinese market is shown to have grown at a rate of 11.4% in 2016, gaining a 1.9% increase from 2015 figures. For the entire year, a total shipment of 476.5 million units.

Related: Average Selling Price Of Chinese Smartphones Now Closer To Samsung

On the individual brand performance, Xiaomi saw a decline in its total shipment by 20 % year-on-year . The innovative Chinese startup was only able to manage a total of 51.4 million units, pushing it down the ladder to number 4. Apple and Samsung are also revealed to be struggling in the China market like Xiaomi and the decline is expected to continue this year. Apple could record low sales as consumers wait for the 10th anniversary iPhone 8 which is touted as coming with lots of innovative features.

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The debate has been raging on and on as to who would be the first to use Qualcomm‘s latest power-driven Snapdragon 835 chip and the main contenders have been Samsung‘s next gen Galaxy S8 flagship and the Xiaomi Mi 6. Lately, ASUS is tipped as planning to launch a new Zenfone flagship during CES 2017 and that the device will likely feature a Snapdragon 835 chip. If this happens, ASUS could as well trump Xiaomi and Samsung to the crown.

There seem to be no major contenders among the Chinese brands for who will first use the flagship chip, with only Xiaomi mentioned thus far. Well-known industry analyst Kevin Wang had earlier hinted that the Xiaomi Mi 6 would be the first Chinese brand that would use the Snapdragon 835 chipset and once again, the analyst has reaffirmed that position of his. Earlier on, Mr Wang had reiterated that the Mi 6 will not be affected by the low output of the Samsung 10nm node which is said to have prompted Samsung to shift the launch of the Galaxy S8 away from February.

Related: Xiaomi Mi 6 Specs & Release Details Leaked

Thus, it is very likely that the Mi 6 will not only be the first Chinese smartphone that would be powered by the flagship chip but also end up making it as the first brand globally that would feature a Snapdragon 835 chip onboard. Details on the likely specs of the Mi 6 has been scarce but the device is said to have a design that resembles a sized-down version of the Mi Note 2. The Xiaomi mi 6 is also rumored as packing a dual-lens camera at the rear as well as dual curved screen design. Xiaomi always doesn’t disappoint in the specs and designs of its smartphones and the Mi 6 is likely not going to be an exception.

(source)

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We know Huawei, OPPO and Vivo are all having a good time, selling millions of smartphones in China in 2016. Now, IHS Analyst, Kevin Wang has just revealed the ranking of the top Chinese smartphone manufacturers based on sales in Q2 2016. The list comes with no surprises, as Huawei is still leading the pack of Chinese companies, having sold well over 32 million phones during this period.

In the second place is OPPO, who has managed to surprise us all this year with massive marketing campaigns and selling nearly 22 million phones in the second quarter. Vivo is behind OPPO, filling in the third place selling 16.41 million phones. Xiaomi, who is often reffered to as Apple of China takes the fourth spot selling 15.22 million units in the same period. In the fifth place is ZTE with 13.70 million units, followed by Lenovo at sixth position with 11.12 million units, TCL at seventh place with 7.40 million units and finally, at eight place is LeEco, having sold 5.83 million units during the same period.

Things could be different in the next couple of quarters of the year, since Xiaomi just released its premium Redmi Pro model this week, and soon we will meet top end phones like the Mi Note 2 and Mi 5S. So, Xiaomi could be aiming to jump a couple of places in the ranking in the coming quarters with its new high-end offerings. Meanwhile, we are still not sure what OPPO and Vivo has in store for the following quarters. OPPO seems to be preparing for the launch of the OPPO F1S in the first week of August, however, details about the phone are scarce at the moment.

RELATED: Huawei & OPPO Lead Q2 2016 Smartphone Shipments In China

As for Huawei, we can expect to meet the Mi Max killer, the Huawei Honor Note 8 phablet on August 1. The new release along with existing models like the Honor 8 should ensure ample sales for the company in the coming quarters as well. Further, the company’s flagship device is said to be launching in India in the third week of August.

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Chinese market research firm, Sino recently published its new report about the smartphone market share in China for the month of May. The report gives us some interesting insight about the market in China and the market share held by smartphone giants in the region. One major highlight of the report was that the Chinese companies, OPPO, Vivo, Huawei and Gionee (yes, it made it to this list), who are also known together as “Jinhua OV” (where Jinhua is for Gionee and Huawei, while OV is for OPPO and Vivo) did pretty well in May.

All the above mentioned Chinese companies have made it to the top 6 list of smartphone makers according to market share in the month of May. The other two are none other than Apple and Samsung. However, both the companies have lost some market share in the period. OPPO was yet again one of the top-performing smartphone companies in May in China. It sold around 5.310 million units during this period, much higher than any other company, with a share of 15.3%. Right below OPPO, was Vivo with sales of around 4.220 mil in May and market share of 12.1%. Apple and Huawei are right behind Vivo with a difference of around 500K between each place. Surprisingly, even Gionee has made it to this list, shipping 1.711 million units in May.

The overall sales of smartphones were strong in May. Sino reports that Chinese market saw total sales of 34.74 million units, an increase of around 12.2% as compared to April. Domestic brands did particularly well during this period, increasing its contribution to 82.1% in May.

While we knew that OPPO, Vivo and Huawei are doing well in the smartphone industry, what’s really surprising is the rise of Gionee during this period. Looks like Gionee’s S, W and M series are doing quite well in the Chinese market.

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OUKITEL recently announced a new budget smartphone that goes by the name of the OUKITEL C3. The phone is targeted at those users who don’t want to spend much buying a phone but still want a decent smartphone experience. Now, the company has released a couple of more pictures as well as a new video showing the design of the new handset. We can tell that the company is trying to target the young generation with a diamond texture at the back and bright colours. There are give different colours available for the device right now, white, dark blue, rose gold, black and sky blue. You can check out the new video released by the company from down below.

The phone is available from May 13 and orders will ship out as soon as May 15. For a limited number of orders, you can also get a free silicon case with the device. Not at all a bad deal considering you get the phone for just $47.99.

Now, coming to the specs of the OUKITEL C3, it comes with the MT6580 quad-core chipset and 1GB of RAM inside. You get 8GB of expandable ROM, 2000mAh battery inside an 8.8mm body, 5-inch 720p display and a 5MP rear camera. To remind you, this is not a 4G LTE enabled device but works on 3G networks.

You can check out more specs and pricing options for the device from the link given below.

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We know that Chinese gadgets may have some defects and often you don’t get a platform to share these problems with the manufacturers. However, we here at Gizmochina are offering a brand new program wherein we invite all those who are having some major issues with their Chinese smartphones to report it to us.

Yes, you can report your problems with a Chinese gadget by mailing to frank@gizmochina.com. Please ensure that the complaint is in Microsoft Word format.

Please make sure that you send in all the details about the problem you are facing along with relevant screenshots and technical details. We want you to inform us as well as others what exactly is the problem faced by you. As a result, make sure that you give out as much relevant details as possible.

If your complaint turns out to be genuine and important, we will publish it directly on our website. Remember that the complaint report needs to be in perfect English and in an organized manner. This will ensure that everyone understands the problem easily.

What’s more, for every well written complaint with details, we will pay you between $10 – $50 for sharing it with us. So, make sure that you write your complaint perfectly before sending it to us. No payment will be made for unpublished complaints or posts that are not persuasive / informative.

So if you have something to report, please make sure you following the below guidelines to ensure that it gets published:

1. Make sure that your complaint is in English

2. It should be in an informative and article format. Also, send your complaints only in Microsoft Word.

3. Provide at least one screenshot / image of the defect / problem you are facing. More pictures are always welcomed as it will inform our readers your exact problem.

4. Provide as much details as possible about your problem. For example, if your camera has suddenly stopped working, you can mention if you had noticed any problems when you started using the device.

5. Please don’t send in fake  / false complaints. Don’t try to spoil the name of good manufacturers by sending in complaints that don’t exist. Believe me, if you do, we will soon find it out. Also, our readers are quite sharp, they will also help us find out the fake ones.

If you complaint is genuine and informative enough, we will publish it on our website to let everyone know about your problem.

Once again, make sure you send your complaint in Microsoft Word format to frank@gizmochina.com.

Here is one of the complaint article we are looking for and would love to pay for : http://www.affhelper.com/mywot-reviews-exposed/

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