China becomes iPhone’s largest market

“China’s first largest iPhone market ‘

LONDON (Reuters) –

Apple is expected for the first iPhones sold in China than in the US That wrote Financial Times Sunday after a survey among market experts from major banks.

Apple, which publishes its first quarter results Tuesday, thanked the growth, according to analysts at the last year announced cooperation with China Mobile. That is the operator of the largest network in China. Apple would also have benefited from falling behind rival Samsung. However, the group is struggling with the rapid rise of Xiaomi, that brings cheap smartphones on the market.

Analysts at the Swiss bank UBS estimate that 36 percent of the total number of iPhones shipped went to China, compared to 24 percent for the US A year earlier, the roles were reversed and 29 percent went to the US and 22 percent to China.

Apple has worked diligently to build a strong following in China, a booming smartphone market, but has struggled against its rivals. China currently controls 6 percent of the Chinese smartphone market, with Samsung, Lenovo, Coolpad, Huawei, and Xiaomi ahead – but revenue from China is growing, so Apple will continue to promote iPhones there.

Washington and Beijing have an extremely touchy relationship, and cyberespionage and security issues are certainly complicated, with both sides accusing one another of surveillance techniques. Meanwhile, Apple has been criticized by Chinese state media and the government itself on several occasions, along with being criticized for not having good levels of customer service.