China’s top smartphone brands narrow the gap with Samsung in Southeast Asia
Chinese Android smartphone suppliers Oppo, Vivo and Huawei have ramped up expansion efforts overseas amid stiff competition and sluggish growth in their home market.
If there seems to be more people using Chinese smartphones in the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta or Manila, that is because these brands now collectively outsell Samsung Electronics, the long-standing market leader in Southeast Asia.
Oppo, Vivo and Huawei Technologies shipped a total of 29.8 million smartphones across the emerging markets of Southeast Asia last year to corner a combined 29.6 per cent market share, according to data from research firm IDC.
That was enough to edge out Samsung, which shipped 29.3 million smartphones in the region last year for a 29.1 per cent share.
Those emerging markets tracked by IDC included Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The overseas expansion of Chinese Android smartphone suppliers have intensified in the past few years amid stiff competition and sluggish growth in their home market.
Smartphone sales in China fell by 4.9 per cent last year, the first time growth has slowed in eight years, according to IDC.