20 May 2008
China-based Beijing Tianyu Communication Equipment has outperformed its domestic rivals, including Lenovo, Amoi, TCL and Ningbo Bird, to become the largest domestic-brand handset vendor in China, according to data available from market research firm CCID Consulting.
Beijing Tainyu also was ranked as the fourth largest handset vendor in China in the first quarter of this year with a 5% market share, trailing after only Nokia, Samsung Electronics and Motorola, the data showed.
Other China domestic-brand handset vendors, including Gionee, Changhong and Telsda, have also emerged as major vendors in the China handset market, indicated CCID, noting that Gionee is currently among the top-ten handset vendors in China with a 2.1% market share.
Adopting a flexible channel strategy by giving more profits to channel operators has helped emerging handset vendors make more inroads into the handset market in China, according to sources in Taiwan's handset industry.
Although current major vendors such as Lenovo, Amoi and Ningbo Bird are still among the top-ten handset vendors in China, market shares of those vendors actually are declining, the sources noted.
Sales of handsets in China expanded by 4% on year to reach 43.05 million units in the first quarter of this year, with foreign-brand vendors combined taking up a 65% share, down 2.5 percentage points from a year ago, CCID data shows.
