During Q3 2012, as smartphone shipments in China hit a record high of over 60m units, Apple was pushed unceremoniously out of the top five smartphone manufacturers in the country, according to research firm IDC.

Apple dropped two places to sixth, with a market share of less than 10 per cent in the country.

Samsung took the top spot, with Lenovo in second place, and Coolpad jumped three places to third. The top five was rounded out by Huawei in fourth, and ZTE, which dropped one place to fifth.

With the exception of Samsungs lead, thats a very different picture to what were used to in the Western world, and its worth noting that all of the five are Asian companies, which might explain Apples difficulty in penetrating the market.

Nokia steps up

Its certainly a challenge, but one that Finnish manufacturer Nokia, which is struggling in the smartphone market worldwide, seems to be hoping to tackle head on.

To that end, it has partnered with China Mobile, the countrys biggest operator, for the launch of the Lumia 920T, the first TD-SCDMA Windows Phone available in China.

Nokia has also partnered with Air China to bring wireless chargers for its handsets to VIP lounges at Beijing Airport, and with Jiepang, a sort of Chinese Foursquare, to bring NFC deals to 920T users in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.