Chinavision expands online mobile offer to foreigners

Chinese online smartphone vendor Chinavision says it has noticed a huge uptake in cross-border sales of high-spec handsets from the mainland as consumers recognise the spec-for-value advantages over phones from other markets.

“Thanks to a severely competitive landscape, major Chinese brands attempt to differentiate themselves through quality specs and low prices, resulting in a market filled with affordable high-end Android phones,” explains Chinavision spokesperson Rose Li.

“Until recently it has been hard for western consumers to tap into this wealth of affordable phones.”

Chinavision, traditionally a wholesaler of handsets, is now building a thriving business selling phones direct to consumers overseas, specialising in high-end Chinese smartphones and offering wholesale prices, global express shipping and 12 months warranty on all products.

The company has boosted its range with new flagship offerings from brands like Xiaomi, Lenovo and UMi.

“Phones that were previously hard to obtain in the west are now more readily available,” sais Li.

“Unlike the current global smartphone market that is dominated by two or three major players, the Chinese market holds a lot of competition. Lenovo and Xiaomi, for example, are just two Chinese brands that in 2015 ranked in the top five global smartphone manufacturers due to their strong presence in the Chinese market.”

She said with so much competition there’s a strong lineup of Chinese smartphone manufacturers that offer great value for money and feature specs similar to rival western branded flagship devices while being available for half of the price.

“Chinavasion has seen the sale of Chinese branded flagship devices rise significantly in 2016 and the growth is expected to continue into the next quarter and 2017 as western consumers are becoming more aware of the capabilities and advantages of Chinese electronics”.

Rising Chinese smartphone brands such as UMi, Lenovo, and Xiaomi are focusing on delivering all the same high-end specs that Western consumers are used to but for a significantly lower price. High-end 16MP cameras, Dual SIM card slots, FHD displays, and the latest fingerprint technology are some specs that one is likely to find on a Chinese flagship device.

“It is common for top Chinese smartphones to run on an Octa-Core processor that has been backed up by three or more Gigabytes of RAM, making them in many cases just as fast and sometimes even faster and more powerful than western branded competitors.” Featuring a premium, often metal alloy, finish these Chinese smartphones are barely distinguishable from other major brands.

“We expect a dynamic industry change in the near future with the many Chinese, runner-up companies, steadily gaining more and more market share by offering comparable high-end products at lower prices,” says Li.

Chinese smartphone manufacturers are expected to play an ever increasing role of importance in the future global smartphone industry that, according to IDC, is expected to produce in total more than 1.76 billion units annually by 2020.

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