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.