Domestic companies lead the smartphone race

Domestic brands continue to hold center-stage in China's booming smartphone market with diversified products and better distribution channels, according to top industry experts.

According to market research firm Sino Market Research Ltd, China-made phones were the mainstay of the domestic smartphone market and accounted for 74.8 percent of total sales during the second quarter of the year, a 1.6 percent growth over the figures in the first quarter.

Not surprisingly, eight out of the top 10 companies in terms of marketshare were from China. That marks a sharp contrast with the trend seen some years ago, when foreign companies accounted for all the top 10 slots in China, the market research firm said in a recent research note.

Among Chinese companies, Lenovo was the top vendor in terms of sales during the second quarter. The company sold 13 million handsets during the period and was followed by Xiaomi with sales of 12.9 million units and Coolpad with 12 million units, according to data published by International Data Corp.

Yang Bin, president of Analysys International, a leading provider of information products, services and solutions in the domestic Internet market, said Chinese companies scored higher than their foreign peers with diversified distribution channels.

According to Yang, many Chinese vendors had set up flattening distribution channels to reduce costs and strengthen controls on retail sales, something that gained acceptance in the market.

Yet another factor that drove sales for Chinese companies was the emergence of new distribution patterns. Citing an example, Yang said companies such as Xiaomi and Huawei are betting big on e-commerce to drive sales.

Wang Jun, an analyst at Analysys International, said most of the mobile phones made in China and abroad use the Android operating system. "The homogeneous competition in the market has been more serious. Chinese vendors have improved their technology, brand and design, and their prices are much lower than those sold by foreign brands. This has made them very popular in China," he said.