Some branded vendors' shipment volume in the fourth quarter stayed relatively the same as the third quarter. Given the fact that the fourth quarter has always been the peak sales season for mobile phones in the entire year, those brands' sales performance therefore was not quite up to scratch.

Aside from the replacement demand for large screen gadgets, bullish demand from the Greater China Region - comprising of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong - had led to Apple's revenue growth the fourth quarter of 2014. The Greater China's share accounted for 21.6% of Apple's total revenues in the fourth quarter.

And Apple's revenues coming from the region stood at around US$16,144 million, up 156.6% compared to the third quarter. As the market demand is yet to be totally fulfilled, the continuing sales of iPhones in the first quarter of 2015 are the reason that the company can maintain the quarterly shipment volume of over 50 million units in the first quarter.

This year, instead of showcasing products at CES (Consumer Electronics Show), Chinese brands such as Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, and TCL decided to demonstrate products at 2015 MWC. This reflects their confident to compete head-to-head with international brands.

Figure 1