Nokia, Motorola Dominate China's Smartphone MarketNokia, Motorola Dominate China's Smartphone Market

The Chinese market for smartphones is still relatively small, but the growing market is dominated by Nokia and Motorola, according to research firm CCID Consulting.

The firm said about 7.5 million smartphones were shipped in the third quarter of 2008, and Nokia grabbed more than 69% of that. Motorola was a distant second with about 20% of the market, and it was followed by HTC's Dopod and Samsung.

The number of smartphones shipped grew only 0.6% from the previous quarter because of a weakening economy. But China is seen as a potentially huge market for smartphones because of its large population. For instance, China Mobile already has more than 600 million subscribers, and there's still lots of room for growth.

Right now, the vast majority of Chinese cell phone subscribers use entry-level phones that are capable of voice and text. But demand is increasing for sophisticated handsets that can play music and videos and surf the Web with the country's growing 3G network.

The "macroeconomic downturn has certain influence on the mobile phone market, but as the end of year is approaching, operators will set off the first round of business promotion after the telecom reorganization, and manufacturers will adjust price and shipments, and users will pay more attention to smartphones," CCID said in a statement.

Symbian was the leading operating system, with more than 71% of the market. This is followed by Linux, which powers many Motorola handsets like the Ming, and then Microsoft's Windows Mobile.

The analyst firm said it thinks Google's Android operating system could become a major player in the county, and it could eventually help Linux overtake Symbian. China Mobile is committed to Android as a member of the Open Handset Alliance, and it's preparing to release an Android-powered handset in the first half of 2009.