When Apple first launched its iPhone 5C with its eyes on China, many critics said that the high price would undermine efforts to expand there. They would’ve preferred Apple to start selling low-cost iPhones to compete with offerings from Samsung, Lenovo, and others.
According to a new study from app and mobile advertising analytics firm Umeng, Apple’s efforts are paying off. The company is capturing more than 80 percent of the high-end Chinese smartphone market (those who spend over $500 on their phones).
You might think that it’s a small group, and it is, compared to the likes of the U.S. (where high phone prices are largely masked by carrier subsidies). Umeng estimates that high-end users make up 27 percent of the overall smartphone market in China. The smartphone market is currently 700 million users according to Umeng, so this means that there are nearly 200 million consumers with high-end smartphones. And if the 80 percent figure is correct, that translates to 150 million iPhones.
That’s huge: in comparison, the total smartphone users in the U.S. is roughly 200 million. So Apple has the equivalent of almost the entire U.S. smartphone market in China.
