Apple's ranking slips

China now probably delivers about 15 percent of Apple's total income. Tim Cook, the company's chief executive officer, said in October that, from July to September, earnings in China grew 26 percent year-on-year, with sales hitting $5.7 billion.

Apple is opening two more flagship stores in China - in Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan, and in Hong Kong - over the weekend, the Oriental Morning Post reported, giving the company eight stores on the Chinese mainland and three in Hong Kong.

However, Apple's ranking in the Chinese smartphone market fell two notches to sixth place in the third quarter, with it having less than 10 percent of market share, research firm International Data Corp said.

Sun Kai, analyst at researcher GfK China, said, "There are too many choices in the market for Chinese smartphone buyers. It seems that Apple's introduction of products to the Chinese market is lagging behind other phone manufacturers."

Kevin Wang, China research director at iSuppli Asia Shanghai Ltd, said he did not expect the iPhone 5 to help lift Apple's market ranking in China.

"But I think it will have a good performance in the Chinese market, and secure a shipment of 15 million phones in China next year," he said.

shenjingting@chinadaily.com.cn