Samsung’s China smartphone sales expected to be hit amid turmoil from Note 7 recall
Mainland survey finds 51.9pc of respondents plan not to buy Samsung smartphones in light of reported exploding batteries
Demand for Samsung Electronics smartphones in mainland China are expected by analysts to decline fast, as the international recall of its Galaxy Note 7 model casts a pall on the company’s sales in the world’s largest mobile phone market.
Samsung’s turmoil from its first large-scale withdrawal of a smartphone is largely predicted to benefit rivals Huawei Technologies, Oppo Electronics, Vivo, Xiaomi and Apple on the mainland, according to analysts and Chinese retailers interviewed by the South China Morning Post.
Tay Xiaohan, a senior market analyst at technology research firm IDC, said Samsung smartphone sales in the Chinese mainland “have been stagnant in the past few quarters” amid intense competition from major Chinese brands.
“The [Galaxy Note 7] global recall will further affect Samsung’s performance and reputation in China in the second half of this year,” Tay said.
She pointed out that Samsung had been off IDC’s top-five smartphone supplier ranking in the mainland since the second quarter of last year. Samsung was listed sixth last quarter, with about a 6 per cent market share.
Samsung called a halt to worldwide sales of its flagship Note 7 on September 2 amid reports of the device’s battery exploding when it is charged.
