"People know what is smartphone and how to use it thanks to Apple"
"The iPhone is kind of a catalyst for the Chinese smartphone market."
Honestly, I would say it happened the same way in US when the iPhone first came out.
The number of smartphones sold in China has outpaced that in the US for the first time, according to analyst house Strategy Analytics. In the third quarter of 2011 Chinese smartphone sales rose 58 per cent, with 23.9 million units shipped. By comparison, US smartphone sales slid down seven per cent to 23.3 million units. The …
Booming economy with new people getting to the point where they want new cool toys vs stagnant economy? I'm just surprised it took this long.
I would doubt Nokia gets much share of this. They don't have compelling product right now. In Europe, Nokia has some historical and local appeal, but there is no such history in China. If you're wanting to flaunt your new middle class wealth then you're not going to get a Nokia.
I reckon the home-grown Chinese manufacturers will end up the biggest. Huawei, ZTE and whatever the company that makes the MIUI Android distro probably.
Maybe foreign brands will become a status symbol, who knows, but even if that's the case can anyone really see Nokia/Microsoft being seen as cool enough for that?