Apple’s market cap may rule the S&P, but it’s a different story in China.  The tech giant is struggling to efficiently capture a leading share of the country’s massive market, while Samsung is proving a substantial opponent.  With more than three times the market space over Apple (24.3% vs 7.5%), the South Korean company has a strong lead in subscribers which isn’t expected to be challenged any time soon.  According to Bloomberg, Samsung’s blanket strategy proved much more effective in gaining subscribers than Apple’s tactically narrow approach:

“Apple’s partnerships with China’s second- and third-largest carriers give it access to about 34 percent of the nation’s 988 million mobile users, while Samsung targeted the whole market. iPhones aren’t sold to China Mobile’s 655 million subscribers, a number almost equal to the combined population of the U.S., Brazil, and Mexico.”

Considering the recent headwinds for Apple on the iPad/iPhone fronts in China along with the stock reaching toward the $550 mark, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the tech giant take a quick breather in the near future..

 

IPhone Failing to Gain Market Share in China as Samsung Lead Triples: Tech – Bloomberg.