Apple's share of the smartphone market in Asia has risen significantly since the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September, according to market research firm Counterpoint (via The Wall Street Journal). The biggest market share gains for the iPhone came in Japan, China, and South Korea, with the iPhone seeing a 33% market share during November in the latter country. This only trailed rival and South Korean company Samsung, which had a 46% market share after holding a 60% market share.

iphone6-stock

“No foreign brand has gone beyond the 20% market share mark in the history of Korea’s smartphone industry,” said Tom Kang, research director for mobile devices at Counterpoint. “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.”

Apple's market share in Japan grew to 51% in November, holding a commanding lead over second place Sony which holds 17% market share. In China, Apple held a 12% market share in the smartphone market, which is third place behind Lenovo's 13% market share and upstart manufacturer Xiaomi, which commanded a 18% market share.

In November, data from AppLovin showed that the iPhone 6 Plus was popular with Asian customers, as Japan, Vietnam, China, and the Philippines showed an adoption rate of over 35% for the larger device. Overall, strong sales for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus led to smartphone market share growth for Apple across the world, with analysts attributing the growth to the redesigned bodies and larger screens of both devices.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

thekeyring Avatar
136 months ago
Better marketing often beats a better product.

Luckily Apple has both.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wesley96 Avatar
136 months ago
I was unaware that people purchased phones based on some sort of nationalism.:rolleyes: But if what you say is true, what does that say about us Americans? I mean, it's not like we buy Apple exclusively because they're the "home company". Samsung's marketing definitely worked here, and according to this forum, Apple's product was better.

It could be as simple as more Korean people like iPhones now that they have sizes that are more attractive to the market.
Speaking as a Korean here, nationalism has driven sales of local brands in the past and is still valid to certain extent even now. But it's also the case of brand familiarity, especially for the older generations. They're familiar with Samsung and LG, and have the perception that they make good products. So even me being a stalwart Apple fan, I just recommend Samsung to relatives who are not familiar with Apple.

Meanwhile, the younger generations are familiar with Apple and the so-called iPhone Shock that happened back in 2009 when iPhone officially launched here. This demographic had embraced it quite well. But since then, the screen being more or less the same size had an effect of eroding the market share, moving away to large screen size offerings from the local brands. What we've seen back last November would be more or less those people returning.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
taptic Avatar
136 months ago
I'm not in Asia, but I have never seen such a sharp rise in the next generation iPhone as I have with the 6. Usually it seems to take longer before I see so many of the latest in the wild.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MattJessop Avatar
136 months ago
Anecdotal, but being in Shanghai recently, at least 1 third of the people I saw all had 6 pluses. Worth noting that the smallest phone size I saw was still around 5 inches, even with the older generations. Crazy.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ryuok Avatar
136 months ago
We have small eyes, so the bigger screens definitely help. ;)
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fallenjt Avatar
136 months ago
Better marketing often beats a better product.

Tell that to the Korean. They turned away from their home company's products.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...