Apple
The monthly growth rate of 3G subscribers in China has plummeted asApple to begin large-scale delivery of its iPhone in the country. A massive distribution which will be remembered will be possible from January 17 next thanks to its agreement signed recently with China Mobile, the largest mobile operator in the world (read: China Mobile: agreement concluded with Apple for the sale of iPhone 5S / 5C).
Last September, 17 million 3G subscriptions were activated in China. This figure dropped to 13.4 million in October and 11 million in November. These are a fairly good indicator of the evolution of the smartphone market in China.
To explain this decline, it must be remembered that Apple started selling the iPhone in China in September through two of the country’s small operators, namely China Unicom and China Telecom. And in early 2014, China Mobile will make the iPhones 5S and iPhone 5C available to its 700 million subscribers. These mobiles are compatible with this operator’s 4G networks, so there is a good chance that 3G will continue to fall…
The slowdown in 3G in China could be a hard pill to swallow for the rivals of the Cupertino company. The iPhone market share is clearly expected to grow in the country in the first half of 2014. At the same time, competing brands ranging from Samsung to HTC and Nokia will face a simultaneous drop in the number of new subscribers. who buy their first smartphone.
