China to overtake US in mobile phone revenue

By Gao Yuan (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-05-29 15:45

China is set to become the world's largest mobile phone market in terms of revenue for the first time by year end, overtaking the Unites States, according to an industry report.

Phone sales will reach $87 billion in China during 2014, a jump of 53 percent year-on-year. That compares to $60 billion projected sales in the United Sates, said Strategy Analytics.

Smartphones are dominating the sales volume. Chinese shoppers will buy more than 400 million smartphones in 2014, according to local research company Analysys International. The figure is on track to break 500 million by 2016, it said.

China beat the US in smartphone shipment in 2012.

The impressive growth in mobile devices is driven by the country's rapid shift to fourth-generation telecommunications technologies, analysts said.

Leading brands, such as Samsung Electronics Co, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Lenovo Group Ltd, have pledged to expand their distribution channels and bigger product spectrum to feed diversified demand in China.

Although China is leading the global mobile phone market in many aspects, the Strategy Analytics report said the US is most likely to keep the title as the most valuable market by profit for awhile.

"High average selling prices and huge operator subsidies will make the US a very profitable market for major device brands such as Apple Inc, Samsung," it said.