China premium smartphone market ($400 and above wholesale price) has seen a rapid upturn. According to counterpoint Research market pulse service, the YoY increase of the premium segment upsurges to 33% in Q2 2022 from 31% in 2021. A new entrant appeared to menaces the latter’s Vivo upheavals by the x80 series.
Vivo grew 504% YoY in the premium segment. The Vivo performed well in the premium segment only because of its performance and outlook to users with the latest X series. On the yonder, across another stream, Apple performed competently in the $1,000 and above segment, recording a 147% YoY increase, Research Analyst Mengmeng Zhang stated. The Counterpoint report further reported, “The top six OEMs has taken the 95% of the premium segment in Q2 2022. Among them, Vivo snatched second place by outperforming Huawei YoY sales to be in the premium segment for the first time. The company has seen a 91% YoY sales.
While talking about Vivo’s performance, Senior Analyst Ivan Lam said, ‘Apple and Huawei have been competing for the first and second spots for a long. But now other major Chinese OEMs have started targeting the premium segment”.
Senior Analyst Varun Mishra expressed his stand on ongoing premium trends by saying, ‘Leading Chinese OEMs have been actively focusing on the premium segment with concrete strategies, including bringing foldable flagship models customized for Chinese consumers and partnering with traditional camera giants such as Leica, Zeiss, and Hasselblad. We expect the competition in this segment to intensify going forward. At the same time, Samsung is capturing a higher share in this segment due to its foldable line-up, which could result in a resurgence for the South Korean vendor.’
An abrupt turn with a premium foldable iPhone might be the perfect path to set the seal on that there is not a renaissance for Samsung in China. As of now, there are only 9 million foldable phones that have been surfing globally. All participating OEMs have only a desultory aim of 26 million by the end of 2023. Synchronously, if Apple could be inveigled into developing a foldable phone to forestall participants. Moreover, the iPhone maker might still be in the place to develop a perilous foldable iPad to make a greater impact.
