Apple Falls to 5th in China Smarphone Market

Apple’s rise to the top of the global smartphone market in late 2012 hasn’t kept it from slipping to 5th place in China as it faces stiff competition from domestic brands, according to data from research firm Gartner.

Around the world Apple’s share of the smartphone market rose from 15.8% in 2011 to 23.8% at the end of last year. In China its share slid from 10.4% to 7.5% as several Chinese firms began introducing smartphone models and promoting them aggressively through the nation’s leading telecom operators.

Apple’s slide in rankings was due to the rise of ZTE and Huawei which are both being carried by China’s big three telecom operators, according to Taipei-based Gartner analyst CKLu.

Apple’s iPhone will continue to lose market share for two more quarters as the novelty o the 4S model wears off, according to Gartner. But it expects Apple to regain some share with the release of the next iPhone model.