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Mobile phone users account for 80 per cent of all phones users in China. [Xinhua]
Mobile phone users represent 80 per cent of all phones users in the country.
China is already the world’s largest smartphone market, with intense competition between domestic and international brands.
While Android accounts for 90.1 per cent of the smartphone market in China, Apple is ranked sixth in the China’s smartphone market.
Incidentally, Apple’s sales in the “Greater China” region, encompassing China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, were $7.3 billion in first quarter sales, a 60 per cent year-over-year increase, said Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday.
International brands face stiff competition from domestic giants like Xiaomi which sold 7.19 million handsets in 2012, majority sold through its online store.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said the number of internet users rose by 51 million to 564 million people, among whom 74.5 per cent, or 420 million people, surf the internet with their mobile phones.
Internet penetration rate reached 42.1 per cent by the end of last year, up 3.8 percentage points from a year earlier.
The number of mobile phones owned by every 100 people in China reached 82.6 by the end of 2012, up by nine from a year earlier, according to the official statement.
Last year, the country recorded 125.9 million new mobile phone users, among whom 104.38 million were 3G mobile phone users, bringing the total number of 3G users to 232.8 million, the MIIT said.
With Inputs from Agencies
