Top Performers

ByteDance, Xiaomi, and SHEIN lead the list, showcasing the strength of Chinese brands in the entertainment, electronics, and fashion sectors.

Lenovo, Huawei, and AliExpress also remain strong contenders, emphasizing the diversity and innovation in China’s tech and e-commerce industries.

Sector Growth

Smart devices, automobiles, and e-commerce experienced the fastest brand power growth, with China’s industrial ecosystem and technological innovations providing a competitive edge.

Consumer electronics, entertainment apps, and online fashion account for a substantial portion of the brand power growth.

Brand Expansion

Chinese brands have successfully penetrated international markets, with notable growth in regions like Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia.

Brands like BYD and NIO in the automotive sector, and OPPO and Vivo in consumer electronics, have expanded their global footprints, contributing to the increasing brand power.

Market Trends

The report highlights a shift in consumer preferences towards brands that offer meaningful differentiation and high engagement. Brands that have successfully created unique and compelling brand experiences have seen significant growth.

There has been a notable increase in the brand power of mid-sized brands, indicating a shift from the dominance of top-tier brands to a more competitive landscape.

Notable Brand Highlights

• ByteDance: As a global leader in digital content and social media, ByteDance’s platforms like TikTok have become household names worldwide, driving significant brand recognition and engagement.
• Xiaomi: Known for its high-quality yet affordable electronics, Xiaomi continues to expand its product lines and market reach, solidifying its position as a leading global brand.
• SHEIN: The online fashion retailer has disrupted traditional retail with its fast-fashion model, capturing a significant global market share and expanding rapidly across multiple regions.
• BYD: In the automotive sector, BYD’s focus on electric vehicles has positioned it as a key player in the global shift towards sustainable transportation solutions.
• OPPO and Vivo: These smartphone giants have continued to innovate and expand their international presence, offering advanced technology and appealing to a broad consumer base.

Strategic Insights

The report suggests that the key to the success of Chinese global brands lies in their ability to offer meaningful differentiation and engage deeply with consumers. Brands that can innovate and adapt to changing consumer preferences will continue to thrive in the competitive global market.

• Consumer Engagement: Successful brands have invested in understanding and meeting the functional and emotional needs of their consumers, creating strong brand loyalty and advocacy.
• Technological Innovation: Continuous investment in technology and innovation has enabled Chinese brands to stay ahead of the curve, offering cutting-edge products that resonate with global consumers.
• Global Strategy: A tailored approach to international markets, considering local preferences and cultural nuances, has been crucial for the expansion and acceptance of Chinese brands abroad.

Top 50 Brands from Kantar BrandZ 2024 China Global Brands

1. ByteDance
2. Xiaomi
3. SHEIN
4. Lenovo
5. Huawei
6. AliExpress
7. Haier
8. TEMU
9. OPPO
10. Hisense
11. TCL
12. Tencent
13. vivo
14. Chery
15. BYD
16. Anker
17. DJI
18. MiHoYo
19. OnePlus
20. Kuaishou
21. realme
22. GWM
23. TP-LINK
24. HONOR
25. Lynk & Co
26. MAXUS
27. Insta360
28. WORX
29. Lilith
30. Century Games
31. JAC
32. Roborock
33. CHANGAN
34. Geely
35. Midea
36. DiDi
37. POCO
38. ECOVACS
39. Trip.com
40. Magic Tavern
41. Habby
42. Tsingtao Beer
43. EcoFlow
44. Infinix
45. IGG
46. Kunlun
47. eufy
48. 37Games
49. NetEase Games
50. LightInTheBox

BCG: The most innovative Chinese companies

Globally, the key benefits of 5G other than speed gains (e.g. network slicing, edge computing, and low-latency services) are not widely appreciated, with many companies believing 4G is ‘good enough’.

But China is a clear exception. Early partnerships and trials from local operators have paid dividends, as evidenced by the widespread intent among companies in the country’s industrial sector to utilize 5G.

Chinese operators are also leading the charge for standalone (SA) 5G, which will help deliver the key benefits of 5G for enterprises.

Awareness and knowledge of 5G are rising as hype makes way for reality.

Chinese consumers are among the most excited by the prospect of 5G. They are generally more optimistic than other markets about the benefits of 5G, with greater expectations of lower service costs, innovative services and new connected devices.

In addition, consumers in China are likely earlier adopters of 5G (versus the US, Japan, and Europe) and seem the most willing to pay more for 5G services – a key driver of potential 5G consumer revenue uplift.

4G is by far the dominant mobile technology across China, accounting for more than 80% of total connections (excluding licensed cellular IoT). However, 4G’s share will peak in 2020 (at 82%) as 5G grows significantly.

Several 5G smartphones have been launched, many by local OEMs, and Chinese consumers are among the most keen to upgrade to 5G.

As a result, China will account for 70% of global 5G connections in 2020, and 5G adoption will grow to just under 50% by 2025, placing the country among the leading nations along with South Korea, Japan and the US.

To support this generational shift and drive consumer engagement, Chinese operators are expected to invest more than $180 billion between 2020 and 2025 in mobile capex, roughly 90% of which will be on 5G networks.

Despite some financial headwinds – including market saturation, increasing competition and the country’s ‘speed upgrade and tariff reduction’ policy – China’s mobile revenue remains stable.

Financials will recover in 2020 and 2021, and revenue will rise steadily at around 1% per year to 2025, largely because of growing revenues in enterprise IoT and new 5G services.

By the end of 2019, 1.2 billion people subscribed to mobile services across China.

This accounts for 82% of the region’s population and places China among the world’s most developed markets. As with all advanced markets, adding new subscribers is increasingly difficult, with the cost of reaching rural populations hard to justify against a challenging financial backdrop for operators.

Despite this, there will be around 60 million new subscribers by 2025.

Since 2012, the number of people subscribing to the mobile internet across China has doubled to more than 900 million. By 2025, nearly 260 million people will start using the mobile internet for the very first time, almost halving the unconnected proportion of the population to 22%.

Mobile continues to make a significant contribution to the Chinese economy.

In 2019, mobile technologies and services generated $759 billion of economic value added (5.4% of GDP) across China. This figure will surpass $900 billion by 2024 as the region increasingly benefits from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by the increased take-up of mobile services.

Download the full report here (CIW annual subscribers) including key trends shaping the mobile industry, mobile contributing to economic growth and addressing social challenges, and policies to accelerate digital development. Subscribe here.

Consensus, offer, performance and ecosystem are four hurdles towards the take-off of pure EVs. China has ticked the first two and making great progress on the third.

When I worked in China a few years ago, I was fascinated by the power, scale, and speed of the changes in China’s auto market. Since moving to a global role and back to Europe, I still travel to China frequently to keep my finger on the pulse of the Chinese market.

From my recent observations and conversations with clients in China, I have a strong impression that China has entered the “Electric Vehicle for All” era, which is not yet a reality in other markets.

Whatever needs you to have for a vehicle, you can relatively easily find an EV model for it: premium, mainstream or entry models from JV and domestic brands; sedan, SUV, mini/compact cars, you name it.

This brings us to a framework to understand the four key hurdles on the path to an EV future.

Four hurdles to overcome for EV to take off

1. Consensus

It means all or most people understand that to achieve a better environment for human beings, such as cleaner air, EV plays an important role. Conceptually in China, most people have agreed that to improve the environment, the transition towards an EV future is an important part of the solution.

2. Offer

We need enough availability of car models for the majority of car buyers/users. Because if we want to attract enough supporters of an EV future, we need to ensure a large enough size of buyers/users can find an EV version of their ideal car model.

For a French man with four kids like me, I need a large enough MPV to drive my family around. But it’s not easy to find such an EV or hybrid model. The only full EV model available now in Europe that fits my functional need is the Tesla model X, a great model but the price tag is a little beyond my budget.

3. Performance

EV brands from China and other parts of the world are making promises. But to really take off, they need to deliver and meet consumers’ expectations on many aspects, such as range, power of engine, access and convenience of charging, etc. Many brands I saw at the Shanghai Auto Show were claiming their EV can run at least 400 kilometers.

This is a decent mileage to make people seriously consider buying a pure EV car because even if you are driving a gasoline car, you’ll have to stop anyway to rest or for some model stop to fill up every 400 kilometers.

To address the burden of long hours needed to reload fully an EV battery pack, I very much like NIO’s battery swapping station approach. If such battery stations can be built along highways and, it’s big AND, it’s built to fit with every brand not just for a single brand, then people will be even more assured of their EV’s range reliability.

4. Ecosystem

It’s similar to the battery swapping station network topic. For an EV future to materialize, many stakeholders need to join forces in the same direction and align for a common future. These stakeholders include auto brands, component suppliers, IT companies, electricity and power companies, research companies and institutes, government agencies, etc.

A great example is the Movin’On Lab ecosystem that brings together many actors of mobility, to explore the trends, innovate and influence the future of mobility.

Recently, I just shared some preview snapshots of our Mobility Futures report during Movin’On Lab summit in Montreal. Surveying 20,000 people across 31 cities, the study uncovered the political, economic, ecological, technological and socio-cultural factors that are profoundly changing mobility decisions in the major cities around the world.

In addition to identifying today’s patterns of mobility behavior, the project also evaluated acceptance towards new products, services, and interventions to project a 10-year vision of the urban mobility market, including city-level forecasting and scenario planning.

Likewise in China, China Mobile has already established China 5G Autonomous Driving Alliance, which has attracted Chinese automakers, universities, and research institutes, IT companies to join forces. It will be a powerful platform to boost the development of autonomous driving.

I am also aware that China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance (under the leadership of China National Energy Administration) is working as a platform to push forward the access and convenience of charging EVs around China.

Various levels of governments are playing important roles in nurturing the ecosystem. Their regulations and incentives can effectively enforce alignment to push the deployment of EV cars. Take Norway as an example, where since 1990s government and private firms facilitated the import, the sell and the use of EV. Even though Norway is a small country compared to many others, it is now the third largest market for EV sales, right after China and the US.

To summarize, I think China has passed the first major hurdles and is making significant progress on others. We can expect the ecosystem to gradually take shape and accelerate the EV development in China.

Implications for auto brands

Given the status quo of EV cars in China, I think auto brands need to focus on the No.2 and No.3 hurdles mentioned here: offer and performances.

For consumers, it is good to have so many EV offers to wait to be chosen, but for EV brands, they are in a highly competitive and increasingly congested market segment. They really need to understand what consumers are looking for in an EV so they can come up with a differentiated and unique offer to win.

Auto brands also need to evaluate experiences and pain points of current EV customers/users to develop a better performing EV which can retain and win new customers in the future.

Also read: 80% of Chinese consumers’ unplanned shopping comes from social e-commerce

Author: Guillaume Saint, Global Automotive Lead, Kantar

This article was originally published on Kantar.com

China’s three major telecoms operators recently released earning data for the first three quarters of 2017. China Mobile is the largest of the three and possesses obvious strengths; China Telecom is experiencing rapid growth; China Unicom has finally hurdled recent difficulties and reported an increase of 155% in net profits, but this still leaves it with profits 22 times lower than those of China Mobile.

Highlights

Regarding 4G users, China Unicom and China Telecom combined had a total of 328 million 4G network users, versus China Mobile’s 622 million; however, as of June, the former two had less than half the 4G users of the latter, suggesting that the gap is narrowing, albeit slowly.

China Telecom has a commanding lead in the broadband business, and had 131 million broadband customers at the end of September, an increase of 8.2 million. However, China Mobile’s broadband business broke 100 million users in September, an increase of 25.8 million. If it can keep up the pace of growth it may surpass China Telecom’s broadband business sometime next year.

Due to ongoing network expansions and the increased cost of tower leasing, all three operators are experiencing increasing operating expenses compared with last year; China’s Telecom’s expenses increased by 9.8%, while Unicom’s increased by 3.2%.

China Unicom’s profitability increased significantly, aided by its 2I2C strategy and strategic cooperation with Internet companies; its partnerships have allowed the two sides to complement one another, with its online partners’ big data analysis capabilities and advantages in reaching online customers helping it to extend business coverage and access its target consumers.

Traditional core businesses for mobile operators, including SMS and voice calling, are all in decline. The number of talk minutes used fell by 7.1% in the first three quarters of 2017.

Improving performance

China Mobile’s revenue for the first three quarters was up 4.9% to 569.5 billion yuan. Profit attributable to shareholders was 92.1 billion yuan, an increase of 4.6% over the same period in 2016.

China Telecom’s revenue for the first three quarters was up 4.1% to 274.7 billion yuan. Profit attributable to shareholders was 18.5 billion yuan, an increase of 45.5% over the same period in 2016.

China Unicom’s revenue for the first three quarters fell by 1.4 billion yuan to 201.7 billion yuan. Profit attributable to shareholders was 4.05 billion yuan, an increase of 155.3% over the same period in 2016.

Overall, all three companies performed well thus far in 2017; Telecom grew by the largest amount, Mobile maintained its status as the largest service provider, and Unicom, though revenue receipts fell, vastly increased its profitability. China Unicom’s income from its mobile business increased by 6.7% to 117 billion yuan; analysts believe this growth and recovery is contingent on increasing its 2I2C, 2B2C, and other online sales initiatives while maintaining low-cost, low-subsidy user acquisition.

Unicom’s businesses “under attack from all sides”

Thus far, China Unicom and China Telecom’s 4G businesses have been living in the shadow of China Mobile’s. However, their latest reports show that the former two reached a total of 328 million 4G users, 34.5% of the market, in 2017. In 2016 they had a combined market share of 29%; in 2015 the corresponding figure was 10%. Thus, they are gradually eroding China Mobile’s lead.

China Telecom was formerly a strong second within the 4G market, but this past year China Unicom has nearly caught up on the backs of an increase of 55.73 million users (vs. Telecom’s 45.65 million). It now has a user base only 8 million larger than China Unicom, with 168 million users in all.

In addition, its broadband business is under assault by China Unicom, which at 100 million users has nearly caught up to Telecom’s 131 million users and may overtake it next year if its rapid growth continues. China Telecom’s advantages in both businesses are no longer obvious.

Strategies and Comments

China Mobile maintains an absolute lead in its mobile and 4G businesses. It has said that it will maintain its “four-wheel drive” integration strategy and work to develop the personal, family, commercial, and new services markets to maintain growth.

China Telecom believes that by promoting business transformation it will enhance its advantages in the future. It also intends to break through institutional barriers to productivity, and strengthen its initiative in the areas of implementation and management.

China Unicom stressed innovation and integrated development and plans to accelerate the recovery of its broadband business while accelerating the transformation of the internet to enhance productivity. It intends to embrace market-oriented reforms to improve efficiency and direct its efforts. It expected the fourth quarter to be challenging as it will abolish domestic roaming fees.

China smartphone market in Q3 2017; 4 out of 10 using Huawei or iPhone

China Mobile’s operating revenue reached 708.4 billion yuan in 2016, representing an increase of 6.0% from the previous year according to its official financial results.

The growth rate of revenue from China Mobile’s telecommunications services stood at 6.7%, achieving a five-year high. The revenue structure improved further with wireless data traffic revenue increasing by 43.5% from the previous year, accounting for 46.2% of revenue from telecommunications services. Wireless data traffic became the biggest revenue source in 2016 for the first time, surpassing the combined revenue of voice, SMS, and MMS.

Profit attributable to equity shareholders reached 108.7 billion yuan in 2016, or basic earnings per share of 5.31 yuan.

China Mobile maintained its market leading position in terms of the overall development of 4G business,
particularly in the areas of coverage and network quality. In 2016, it had a net addition of 223 million 4G customers, bringing the total number of 4G customers to 535 million. The 4G penetration rate of its mobile customers reached 63.0%.

In 2016, China Mobile had a net addition of 22.59 million wireline broadband customers, driving the total number of customers for this service up to 77.62 million, 76.9% of which subscribed to services with a bandwidth of 20M or above.

The number of customers of its home digital product “Mobaihe”, the set-top box that provides high-definition video-on-demand service, has exceeded 22.80 million. Customer value for its broadband service has also increased steadily.

In 2016, China Mobile served 5.45 million corporate customers and generated an increased proportion of product related revenue. Its corporate telecommunications and informatization services revenue continued to grow and accounted for approximately one-third of the total market.

Next: China smartphone market insights for Q1 2017

China’s mobile internet develops rapidly, and mobile internet users in the four-tier cities begin to rise according to a recent report from TalkingData.

By Q3 2015, China is expected to see 1.24 billion active smartphones. From Q4 2014 to Q3 201, the number of mobile devices at the end of each quarter is 1.0615, 1.1315, 1.1815 and 1.2415 billion respectively, but the growth is slowing.

The post-80s, post-90s, and post-00s, combined account for over 72% of the total mobile internet users. Young people under 25 years old account for more than 36.6%.

The growth of China’s mobile users in tier-1 cities is 35.5%; tier-2 33.2% and tier-3 and lower tiers 41.5%.

Users in first-tier cities install and open the most number of mobile apps (43.6).

Brand concentration of mobile devices declines, and domestic smartphone brands continue to gain market share. There is no doubt that Apple is still the leading brand although its market share dropped slightly, followed by Samsung, Xiaomi and Huawei.

In January 2015, China’s mobile internet users with Wi-Fi connection account for 56.9% of total; in July 2015, it dropped to 54.9%,. In contrast, 4G network users increase from 5.2% in January 2015 to 11% in July 2015.

Mobile internet users tend to spend less time on traditional apps but more engaged with lifestyle apps. Usage of online gaming apps fell from 34.7% to 34.1%. Social communication, video player, online shopping apps saw different levels of decrease in usage time. Education, healthy care, news, traffic navigation and finance apps gained more usage time. This part of the data presents a very clear development direction of mobile internet to investors and developers.

Among the top 20 mobile apps by the number of monthly users, WeChat accounts for 76.3%, QQ 76.1%, Taobao 40.2%, Alipay wallet 35%, Sogou mobile input 31%.

Also read: China Mobile Shopping in Counties Over $32.16B in 2014

By the end of Q2 2015, the penetration rate of smartphones has reached 65.5% in China urban regions, an increase of 4.3% compared with the previous quarter and an increase of 18.9% year over year. The penetration rate of China Mobile smartphone users was the highest which reached 66.3% according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

Although the ratio of China Mobile users was 1.1 percentage points lower year on year, it still accounted for 60.2% market share, more than the total number of users of the other two telcom networks combined.

Users who chose not to use China Mobile any more were mainly the female, post-00s and post-90s, 3G network users, post-paid subscribers in third-tier and fourth-tier cities. More than half of the lost users joined the network of China Unicom, mainly due to the recommendation of their friends and relatives. New users who chose to use China Mobile were mainly because of the mobile 4G network, while many users complained about the cost-effectiveness and the imparity clauses.

In contrast, the number of China Telecom mobile phone users continued to grow, which reached 15.3%. Home broadband, landline telephone and other services helped China Telecom in the growth. In addition, there were a considerable number of users who chose China Telecom mobile phones for its favorable price.

In order to avoid the loss of more users, China Mobile should encourage users to upgrade to the 4G network.

Also read: China’s Top 30 Mobile Internet Companies in 2015

iResearch released a report on Chinese electronic payment users in 2015, which shows data of China e-payment and its users.

In 2014, male users of China e-payment account for up to 57.3%, while female users only account for 42.7%. The male ratio of online banking, mobile banking and WeChat banking account for more than half of the overall male proportion of electronic payments. While in the third-party online payment, third-party mobile payment, POS machine payments and prepaid cards payment, the ratio of female users is relatively high.

The ratios of China e-payment users and overall internet users are basically the same by ages. Users from 26 to 35 years old are the biggest age group, accounting for 50%. The penetration rate of online banking users increases with higher age groups; users above 36 years old are the biggest age group. At present, the penetration rate of mobile payment is higher, while in the future the situation may change.

The ratios of China e-payment users and overall internet users are basically the same by education background. While the ratio of penetration tends to be higher among users with higher education background.

According to iResearch, male users of China’s electronic payment prefer to use electronic banking channels (online banking, mobile banking and WeChat banking), while Chinese women are more likely to use tools offered by third-party payments. In 2014, users of third-party internet payment account for over 60% of the overall payment users, then third-party mobile payment and online banking follow, with each accounting for about 50%.

Male users prefer electronic payment instruments offered by banks such as online banking (5.4% higher than female), mobile banking (relatively 2.0% higher than the female). While female users relatively prefer payment channels offered by third-party payments, such as third party internet payments (relatively 1.6% higher than the male), third-party mobile payments (2.6% higher than male).

iResearch believes that the reason the third-party payment and online banking users are more than POS machine payment users is that, electronic payment channels have less connections with the development level of local areas, the popularity of smart clients, and the internet also makes the payment of internet users migrate with electronic channels.

Users use a third-party payment gateways once or twice a week, and spend about 500 yuan per month. The average consumption is about RMB 100.

Several factors affect users acceptance of online payment, which are the brand of the company, security level, convenience level, price, and function. High security is the key factor users consider when they make payments online.

In 2014, China online banking users prefer to use online banking on ICBC, and over 50% of users have used China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and other five banks. The top several online banking users use more often is ICBC (25.6%), China Construction Bank (17.5%) and Agricultural Bank of China (11.4%).

Mobile payment products are more diversified compared with online banking. China mobile banking users prefer to use online banking on ICBC (41.0%), and China Construction Bank (38.9%). The top several online banking that users use more often are ICBC (18.8%), China Construction Bank (17.9%) and Commercial Bank of China (12.2%).

Apart from these common payment means, internet users also make payment through WeChat banking. China WeChat banking users prefer to use WeChat banking on ICBC (37.9%), China Construction Bank (34%) and China Commercial Bank (28.1%). The top several WeChat banking that users use more often is ICBC (18.4%), China Construction Bank (15.9%) and Commercial Bank of China (15.2%).

In 2014, China third party internet payment users use Alipay most frequently, with a usage of 94%, followed by China UnionPay (CUP) online (36.6%), Tenpay (36.3%) and 99Bill (33.1%). 87.6% of the users choose Alipay as the most preferred third-party internet payment product; and CUP online ranks second with only 2.9%.

In 2014, people use Alipay more often than WeChat payment. Most WeChat payment users are new to it, and many of them are used to pay by Aipay. While Tencent still has a chance to have a promising future on the mobile payment market with its huge QQ and WeChat user base.

Also read: China Advertising Insights 2015

Kantar Worldpanel’s latest research showed that iOS market share was decreasing in 2 months in the US, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain in 2015. However, in China, iOS market share was still growing in four consecutive months since November 2014.

In November 2014, iOS market share in China was 18.1% and in February 2015, it increased to 27.6%.

Different from smartphone market in other countries like the US, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, China’s iOS market share is still growing rapidly as iPhone 6’s launched in October 2014; besides, China Mobile is promoting its 4G service. All these affected iOS market share in China in the first quarter in 2015.

The analyst from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said that citizens have great demand in iPhones and 59% iPhone6 users are China Mobile subscribers. Further, iPhone6 is still the top-selling smartphone in China cities. its market share increased from 9.5% to 10.2% in February 2015.

Apple’s iOS reached its highest ever share in urban China with one in every four smartphones (25.4%) sold being an iPhone for the three months ending in January 2015, a 4.5 percentage point increase over the same period in 2014 according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

Xiaomi ranked the second among best-selling ones in Feb 2015 in China. Xiaomi was the top smartphone vendor in China by shipments volume in both Q4 2014 and 2014 according to IDC.

Also read: Six of Top 10 Smartphone Brands Worldwide in 2014 from China

In 1998 in China, monthly call duration per user of China Mobile was 393 minutes and monthly phone bill was RMB366 ($44.2) per user. It was the beginning of China mobile era in China; however, in 2012, call duration increased to 512 minutes while monthly phone bill decreased to RMB68 ($10.76).

As of 30 September 2014, China Mobile customers reached 799 million, among which 40.95 million were 4G customers.

Also read: China Unicom in Q3 2014: 297M Mobile Subscribers; 145.7M on Mobile Broadband

Interbrand, a brand consultancy company, released its 2014 Best China Brands report last week. Tencent claims the #1 position with China Mobile dropping to #2.

Eight brands entered the report this year, including Alibaba Group (#3), Huawei (#13), PICC (#20), Chow Tai Fook (#22), JD.Com (#25), 360 (#41), DEEJ (#48), Lao Feng Xiang (#50). In light of digital and mobile technology transforming the global marketplace, there appears to be increasing similarities between this year’s top Chinese brands and those brands recognized on the world stage.

“Brands across geographies have reached a pivotal point in terms of their development,” said Jez Frampton, Interbrand’s Global Chief Executive Officer. “They are entering what Interbrand has defined as the Age of You—and they are working to develop truly personalized and curated experiences around the individual consumer that this forthcoming age demands. Brands from all categories and sectors are getting “smarter” – with products and devices working in concert with one another, across supply chains and in tandem with our own individual data sets.”

The brand valuation methodology used for Best China Brands is the same methodology Interbrand uses to determine its annual Best Global Brands ranking. Interbrand examines three key aspects that contribute to a brand’s value:

• The financial performance of the branded product and service
• The role the brand plays in influencing customer choice
• The strength the brand has to command a premium price or secure earnings for the company.

The 2014 Best China Brands illustrate that those brands that have embedded technology and mobile applications throughout their core offerings have performed the strongest. Meanwhile, brands from more traditional industries demonstrated great potential as well. Overall, the total brand value of this year’s 50 Best China Brands increased 22 percent when compared to the total value of the 50 Best China Brands in 2013, representing the largest increase in the table’s overall brand value since the inception of Best China Brands. The strong performance of China’s Internet brands marks the end of an era for the financial services and telecommunication brands that had previously dominated the Best China Brands ranking.

With eight new brands making an appearance, the Best China Brands ranking has become more diversified and, consequently, Interbrand has been able to identify the following emerging trends:

The new ecosystem is cultivating the growth of super brands.

The total brand value of Internet brands has increased from 11 percent to 24 percent compared to last year, making the industry the second most valuable after the financial services industry. TAB (Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu), in particular, are either cooperating with or surpassing traditional industries in changing how consumers live, work, learn, and connect with each other and the world at large. Since the second half of 2012, TAB has acquired and invested in a wide-range of companies, including those representing the following sectors and industries: financial services, entertainment, education, and healthcare. As a result, these leading brands are creating entirely new brand ecosystems aimed at improving customer convenience and overall quality of life for all.

Mobile Internet, the Internet of Things, and Big Data have equipped brands with the power to change the word.

Mobile Internet, the Internet of Things, and Big Data not only provide opportunities for revolutionizing and changing traditional industries and Internet brands, but have also created greater synergy as a result of cross-platform collaborations—propelling the transformation and progress of society on a larger scale. Huawei, Lenovo, Haier, Gree and Midea particularly stand out, as they continue to actively explore and develop the concept of “smart city” and “smart home.”

Banking and Telecom industries call for transformation—a test of foresight and innovative capability.

The growth rate of the banking industry (12 brands earned positions on this year’s Best China Brands ranking) continues to slow down with the top four banks garnering less than 5 percent growth in brand value. Both state-owned and private commercial banks face greater challenges and more competitive pressure than ever before and are urgently in need of a “second transformation.” Those banking brands that possess foresight and innovative capabilities have undergone transformation either on their own or by collaborating with another brand—and have maintained their double-digit growth as a result. The business of voice calls and text messages for the Chinese telecom industry continues to decline under the proliferation of Mobile Internet. Facing numerous difficulties, Chinese telecom brands have implemented a series of actions to accelerate transformation. Only time will tell if such actions are too little too late or have the desired impact.

In addition to the trends outlined above, the significant movement amongst the 2014 Best China Brands also reflects four key challenges that Chinese enterprises face in the age of mobile Internet:

Revisit the concept of the age of Mobile Internet

Many Chinese enterprises lack a deep understanding of brand strategy and digital strategy. Their knowledge of ‘digital’ is limited to brand communication channels (online ads, official Wechat and Weibo) and e-commerce channels. Chinese enterprises need to adjust their mindset in both strategies to executional levels in the Age of Mobile Internet.

Emphasize a brand’s authenticity and differentiation.

Building a brand requires the coordination of all departments. A marketing department could be responsible for brand communication, but if no other departments, including sales and operations for example, do not support the corresponding brand experience, it would result in an inconsistent brand experience for the users, thereby reducing the brand’s level of authenticity, Differentiation is the perceived difference and uniqueness of the brand vis-à-vis the competitors. Without clear brand differentiation, brands can only compete on price. A brand’s core competency has shifted from technological capability to the ability to influence customers and consumers. If a brand were to build on its authenticity and differentiate itself from out inside out, it holds greater potential to bring greater value to its brand.

Clarify the direction of brand development.

Compared to great international brands, Chinese brands have a tendency to lack a clear brand vision. A clear brand vision can give a brand depth and bring it to life, garnering recognition and loyalty from the public. In contrast, those organizations lacking clear brand vision can only compete on price and thereby must work all the harder to remain relevant in today’s rapidly-changing Chinese and global marketplaces.

“Imaginative” becomes a key challenge for Chinese brands.

Today, Chinese enterprises need to think about how to create new brand experiences with their consumers instead of simply answering consumers’ current needs. Therefore, Chinese organizations need to inject a tremendous amount of imagination into their brands and into the experiences they build around those brands.

“The reason why Chinese brands face so many challenges and are operationally big, while fundamentally weak, lies in the gap of authenticity, relevance and differentiation compared to world’s most influential and powerful global brands,” said James Wang, General Manager of Interbrand Beijing. “Many Chinese enterprises are still in the early stages of brand development, or what Interbrand calls the Age of Identity. However, with every great challenge there lies a great opportunity.”

Yao Chen Gang, General Manager of Interbrand Shanghai also noted, “The Age of Mobile Internet brings great opportunity for Chinese brands to outpace competitors. The annual shipments of Chinese 4G smartphones can surpass a hundred million. Based on the economic value brought by Mobile Internet, the scale of China will likely be 3 to 4 times of the United States in the future. In this age, brand owners should clarify the brand’s vision, infuse creativity and imagination, create a well-rounded brand experience and co-create value together with consumers. With Huawei becoming the first Chinese brand to enter the Best Global Brands ranking, we look forward to seeing many more Chinese brands earn a top position in the near future.

Click here to read the report in Chinese (PDF).

Stats of Top Selling Brands on Taobao/Tmall in 18 Categories in Sep 2014

In China smartphone offline market by sales volume, China Mobile market share rose to 47% in 2014 while China Unicom dropped to 24%. China Telecom’s market share had little change from 2013 according to a research from GfK. Besides, 2G is becoming less popular in China as its market share decreased to 8% in 2014.

China Mobile has increased more investment in 4G smartphone market since last year, which contributes to its rapid development in China smartphone offline market in 2014. In the first half of 2014, total sales of smartphones in China have exceeded 185.563 million units according to data from iiMedia Research. 3G Smartphone accounted for 72% of all the phones sold and the market has higher demand on 4G smartphones as 4G network is heavily promoted by the telcos in China.

The market share of Samsung, Lenovo and Apple decreased in August 2014 in China’s smartphone offline market, while Vivo, Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi all have increased market share.

In August 2014, top 5 smartphone brands by market share in China Mobile offline market were Samsung, Vivo, Goolpad, Oppo and Lenovo.

The top 5 smartphone brands by market share in China Unicom‘s offline sales channels were Samsung, Apple, Lenovo, Xiaomi and Coolpad.

Also read: Samsung and Xiaomi Ahead of Apple, Leading China Smartphone Market

China Mobile continued to experience a decline in its voice and SMS and MMS businesses, with a 0.3% decrease in the total voice usage and a 20.2% decrease in the SMS usage compared to the same period of last year. However, China Mobile substantially leveraged its first-mover advantages in 4G services and accelerated the migration of customers to 4G network.

As of 30 September 2014, China Mobile customers reached 799 million, among which 40.95 million were 4G customers.

Mobile data traffic for the first three quarters of 2014 increased by 98.6% compared to the same period of last year, which constituted the major driver of revenue growth. Yet it experienced a further slowdown in revenue growth and the operating revenue reached RMB481.2 billion, representing an increase of 3.9% compared to the same period of last year.

China will overtake USA as the number one LTE market in terms of LTE smartphone sales in the second half of 2014, according to Counterpoint Research.

China Mobile Financial Data

China Mobile Operating Data

Continue reading: China Mobile App Distribution Channels Market Share

Source: China Mobile

iPhone6 and iPhone6 Plus finally got network access license from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on 30 September in 2014. Apple also announced that new iPhones will be available for consumers to buy in mainland China on 17 Oct 2014.

In addition to Apple online and retail store, iPhones’ selling channels have been extended. Three operators including China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, now all provide ordering service. Total orders exceeded 4 million through channels like three telco operators and virtual operators such as Suning, D.Phone, Jingdong and others.

Announcement on China Mobile’s official website now is written: “Users can book iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus on www.10086.cn, 10086 web portal, Wechat platform, JD and by dialing 10085.

China Unicom and China Telecom both provide iPhone 6 and Plus with all netcom version. However, they do not provide bare iPhones booking now.

Within 6 hours in China, three operators received over 1 million bookings and bookings for 64GB version are much more than other ones.

iPhone 6 and Plus orders on JD.com needs users provide their real names, e-mail address and telephone numbers to be informed of available time. Virtual operator, Suning also made promotion for new iPhones orders.

In China, need for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus is much higher than before. It’s really a pleasure for Chinese to experience new iPhones and a potentially huge sales success in China for Apple.

Samsung leads China’s smartphone market (23%) by total sales volume, followed by Xiaomi (21%) and iPhone (16%) during a five-month period ended in May 2014, reported by Kantar Worldpanel:

The number of Smartphone users in China has exceeded 556 million by June 2014 in China, an increase of 4.5% from the prior quarter; more on China mobile market in H1 here.

Also read: Huawei, Lenovo the World’s 3rd and 4th Largest Smartphone Vendor in Q2 2014

In July 2014, total number of subscribers has exceeded 296 million in China Unicom’s mobile services business, with a monthly increase of 888 thousand new subscribers according to the released data from China Unicom for July.

In terms of fixed-line broadband, the number of subscribers reached 67.798 million with 378 thousand new subscribers while the number of local telephone subscribers was 85.44 million with a decrease of 631 thousand according to data from China Unicom.

By June 2014, the number of 4G subscribers in China had exceeded 13.97 million according to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). China Mobile took advantage of 4G trend and gained 5.834 million new 4G subscribers and to a total number of 13.943 million subscribers. China Mobile now has 99.8% of all the 4G subscribers in China.

China Mobile has 241 million 3G subscribers and 20.437 million 4G subscribers according to China Mobile’s official data.

At the end of last year, MIIT issued 4G license based on TD-LTE technology to the three telcos in China though China Unicom and China Telecom preferred FDD-LTE. In June, MIIT granted China Unicom and China Telecom with licenses with network compatible for TD-LTE and FDD-LTE.

Read more: China to be the biggest 4G market in 2019

According to Counterpoint smartphone market research in October 2013, iPhone 5S became the bestselling smartphone globally. Meanwhile, Apple had occupied one fourths of China smartphone market and its cooperation with China Mobile was about to begin. In October 2013, Apple rose to the third place in China smartphone market, behind Samsung and Lenovo.

iPhone 5S though did not cause long waiting lines outside Apple stores like iPhone 4S, it was more successful than iPhone 5. Apple’s cooperation with China Mobile meant that Apple achieved cooperation with all three big China telecom enterprises. Apple would very likely to rank the first in China smartphone market in December 2013, or January in 2014.

China Mobile announced that there would be 10 million to 40 million iPhone sold through China Mobile in 2014.

China Mobile sufferred from total market failure in TD network era, now it’s time for China Mobile to win 4G era.

China telecom enterprises’ main task was increasing 4G network coverage spots, besides, 4G supported mobile phones was also very crucial. China Mobile took cooperation with manufacturers seriously. Tang Jian, general manager of China Mobile, revealed to Tencent technology news that there were 10 4G smartphone devices selling. By the end of 2013, there would be more than 30 4G smartphone devices in the market from many manufacturers, including Samsung, Sony, HTC, etc.

Mobile Manufacturers All Enthusiastic About 4G

Compared with China Unicom and China Telecom, China Mobile had the strongest desire in 4G market. The main reason was that China Mobile hoped to change the disadvantage position in 3G market. Except for internet connecting speed, China Mobile 3G TD network supported mobile phones were not attractive in design, as well as limited mobile devices. Now the situation in 4G market was completely different, not only these main mobile manufacturers all attended China Mobile’s 4G meeting, but also all expressed their support in making 4G smartphone devices. China Mobile used to ask manufacturers to make 3G TD supportive devices for them.

HTC higher management class pointed it out to Tencent Technology news that all their product lines were included in 4G smartphone devices. Sony will also integrate music, video and game into 4G devices to meet the needs of 4G consumers.

Why were mobile manufacturers all enthusiastic about 4G? Word said that China Mobile planed to procure 50 million 4G devices in 2014, during which mobile devices accounted for 40 million. The large procurement would let any mobile manufacturer heartbeat increase, moreover, though 4G network coverage still needs improvement, it fast internet connection will win the hearts of consumers and mobile manufacturers would not waste opportunities like this.

China Mobile also learned from its mistake in 3G market, it began contacting with foreign mobile manufacturers before 4G license issuance. For example, in August 2013, China Mobile collaborated with Samsung to launch the first TD-LTE mobile phone Galaxy Note 2. It is said that on December 18, Samsung will launch many TD-LTE mobile phones, including Galaxy S4, Note 3 and CS03.

At present, consumers could purchase many 4G China Mobile smartphones in China, including Samsung 7108D (Note 2 4G supportive), Sony M35t, ZTE U9815, Huawei D2-6070, Coolpad 8736, Hisense X6T, K-Touch 1. By the first half of 2014, there will be over 50 4G China Mobile smartphone devices.

Changing to 4G network requires consumers to change to USIM card. China Mobile announced that they would offer free USIM card change service to consumers. If one has a 4G supportive smartphone device, he or she will only need to change to USIM card in China Mobile stores without changing phone number. And consumers could also get a 4G smartphone by joining advance payment plan.

Cheap 4G Smartphone Devices

China Mobile is going to launch 1,000 yuan (USD 164) 4G smartphones together with many manufacturers, which will be the new hit in 2014. Tang Jian believed that China Mobile 4G devices would have a good sales performance in 2014. It estimated that 4G devices below 1,000 yuan (USD 164) would become the dominance in the second half of 2014.

By July 2013, China 3G users reached 340 million, during which China Mobile had 147 million 3G users. China Mobile led for the cheap 4G smartphone devices, which means the popularity of 4G will come very soon.

On December 4 2013, China issued 4G licenses to China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom at the same time. The three telecom enterprises were given 4G TD-LTE operating permission.

Ericsson’s recent mobile market report forecast that China would be the biggest 4G LTE market in 2019, with over 700 million 4G LTE users. Meanwhile, Ericsson announced their support in China Mobile to build the world largest 4g LTE network.

4G LTE is the fastest developing mobile telecom technology in the history. Because of its high internet access speed and stability, flexibility, LTE becomes the indispensable network infrastructure.

Enfodesk released its report on China LBS market, by the end of 2013 Q2, China mobile navigation apps accounts reached 120 million, with a QoQ increase of 8.5% and a YoY increase of 43.6%.

Autonavi, Careland and Mapbar were the top three navigation apps in 2013 Q2.

By the end of June 2013, China telecommunication companies’ mobile navigation apps accumulated accounts reached 41.55 million, with a QoQ increase of 13.1% and a YoY increase of 108.9%.

In 2013 Q2, China telecommunication companies’ mobile navigation apps paid accounts reached 5.8 million, with a QoQ increase of 14.4%. Paid accounts occupied 14% of total navigation app users.

In 2013 Q2, both China Telecom’s enavi app accumulated accounts and paid accounts grew quite a lot.

In 2013 Q2, China pre-installed car navigation market revenue was 190 million yuan (USD 31 million), with a QoQ increase of 18.8% and a YoY drop of 29.6%.

Autonavi and NavInfo occupied China pre-installed car navigation market with 55.1% and 42.8% share.

China portable car navigation sales reached 1.68 million in Q2 2013, 1.3% more than last quarter.

Careland topped with 69.9% in China pre-installed car navigation in Q2 2013, followed by Rtnavimap with 14.7%. NaviInfo ranked the third with 7.1% share.

According to EnfoDesk, Onstar ranked the top in China pre-installed car navigation vehicle networking, with 48.3% market share. G-book and Inkanet ranked the second and third.