iPhone sales surge in South Korea, China and Japan

January 22, 2015

According to Counterpoint Research, Apple saw a heavy increase in iPhone sales after the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in key Asian markets, including South Korea, China and Japan.

The Cupertino giant managed to claim one-third of smartphone sales in South Korea in November 2014, which is a first for any foreign brand, as stated by Counterpoint's research director based in Korea, Tom Kang:

No foreign brand has gone beyond the 20% market share mark in the history of Korea's smartphone industry. It has always been dominated by the global smartphone leader, Samsung. But iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have made a difference here, denting the competition's phablet sales.

Korea being the world's highest penetrated phablet market (handsets with 5" above screens) earnestly needed a large screen iPhone for quite a time and now this thirst has been quenched.

Kang noted that Apple would have managed to capture an ever larger chunk of the market share in South Korea, totaling to as much as 40 percent, if there was a better supply of 64GB and 128GB variants of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in the country.

A similar trend was witnessed on a global scale, with monthly iPhone sales crossing the 20 million mark for the first time ever in November 2014. In China, Apple registered an increase of 45 percent from November 2013, which led the vendor to become the third-largest in the country with a market share of 12 percent, behind Xiaomi (18 percent) and Lenovo (13 percent).

The iPhone 6 contributed to two-thirds of all iPhone sales in China during the period, but Counterpoint noted that increased supply of iPhone 6 Plus would lead to the 5.5-inch device contributing to a larger chunk of the sales.

While Apple was able to stave off challenge from Samsung's Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4, Xiaomi's latest devices, the Mi Note and Mi Note Pro, are expected to pose a larger threat to iPhones in the country in the coming months. In Japan, Apple's iPhones accounted for more than half of all smartphone sales in October and November.

Source: Counterpoint Research