Apple may really need that plastic iPhone in China

According to shipment info gathered by the analysts over at Canalys, Apple's smartphone share in China is at 4.8% with a total of 4.3 million device shipments. As a result, Apple has fallen from the fifth down to the seventh overall spot in the manufacturer's ranking for Q3 2013.

Vendors	Shipments	Market share
Samsung	15.5	17.6%
Lenovo	10.8	12.3%
Yulong	10.7	12.2%
ZTE	7.7	8.7%
Huawei	7.5	8.6%
Xiaomi	4.4	5.0%
Apple	4.3	4.8%
Others	27.1	30.8%

Xiaomi managed to edge out Apple by shipping 4.4 million units. The company has just unveiled itsquad-core Red Rice (or Hongmi), which at €99 costs only a fraction of the iPhone price, and will allow it to gain even more ground in the next quarters.

Samsung posted a solid 15.5 million shipments, which allowed it to take first spot with 17.6% market share. Lenovo took the second spot with 10.8 million shipped units and 12.3% market share - barely outpacing another local maker, Yulong.

If rumors are to be trusted, Apple may really need a cheaper iPhone 5C to tackle emerging markets, even if it means lowering its profit margin.