(Yicai) July 26 -- Chinese smartphone maker Vivo Communication Technology jumped from the fifth to the top spot by market share in China in the second quarter of this year, while US tech giant Apple dropped from third to sixth, according to International Data Corporation.

Vivo's market share rose to 18.5 percent from 17.2 percent in the three months ended June 30 from a year earlier, IDC said in a report published today. Huawei Technologies ranked second with 18.1 percent, followed by Oppo with 15.7 percent and Honor with 14.5 percent, while Xiaomi climbed to the fifth spot with 14 percent.

Dongguan-based Vivo seized the biggest share in smartphones priced between CNY1,000 and CNY2,000 (USD138 and USD276), between CNY3,000 and CNY4,000, and between CNY4,000 and CNY5,000. Its sub-brand iQOO took 5.5 percent of the overall market to become the most successful sub-brand.

"Although the price promotions helped improve the iPhone’s demand in the second quarter, Apple still saw a 3.1 percent year-on-year decline, whereas the overall Android market grew 11.1 percent," IDC noted. Chinese brands dominated the top five "after a hiatus of nearly four years," it added.

Foldable smartphone deliveries in China reached 2.6 million units and maintained a three-digit increase from a year earlier. With the release of more companies' next-generation foldable modules, the market will likely continue to grow fast in the second half, developing better than relevant global markets, IDC pointed out.

Huawei ranked first in the foldable phone market with a share of 41.7 percent, followed by Vivo with 23.1 percent, Honor with 20.9 percent, Oppo with 8.4 percent, and Samsung with 3 percent.

The market share of high-end phones, or those priced above USD600 each, rose 2.8 percentage points to 25.9 percent in the quarter from a year earlier, while of those priced between USD200 and USD600 fell 2.8 points to 46.3 percent. Some medium-income consumers opted to lower consumption amid economic impacts, choosing cheaper or used products that still meet basic use needs.

China's smartphone shipments jumped 8.9 percent to 71.6 million units in the second quarter from a year ago, IDC added.

Editor: Martin Kadiev