Apple Is Getting Pushed Around in China By Local Phone Brands

  • Oppo, Huawei and Vivo now control half of total shipments
  • Apple saw its first annual iPhone shipment drop in China
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Chinese smartphone brands Oppo and Huawei are tightening their grip on the world’s largest market, grabbing local share and squeezing out Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

After including Vivo, Chinese vendors held the top three slots and accounted for 48 percent of shipments in the country during 2016, research firm IDC said. With a line-up of flexible- and curved-screen devices, they look set to dominate the market in 2017. A decline in Apple shipments in the fourth quarter highlighted how the iPhone 7 failed to make as big a splash in the face of escalating competition.