Oppo, Vivo, Huawei have not been able to crack the US market. Here's why

Chinese smartphone manufacturers have seen a meteoric rise in India. Companies like Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo account for around 54 per cent share in the Indian market. Globally, Chinese OEMs have captured roughly 43 per cent of the smartphone market share. But the one place these brands have failed to make their presence felt is in the US where they have managed to capture only 18 per cent of the market.

Chinese OEMs are challenged by a carrier controlled market in the US. Some companies like LeEco have already crashed and burned within a short period of time. Counterpoint Research's Jeff Fieldhack reports why Chinese smartphone manufacturers have faced such a difficult time there and noting that "US carriers are not interested in building handset OEM brands." Carriers in the US control 70 per cent of smartphone sales.

Companies like ZTE and Alcatel have managed to crack the top within prepaid channels. While Motorola has a well-known tie up with Verizon. Other brands are left to the US open channel, which makes it very difficult for them to grow. For US carriers, newer, low volume brands are gamble and one they are not willing to risk as they try to compete with each other. They would rather endorse companies like Apple and Samsung that are well known and can provide high volume. "It is expensive to support the costs of testing, training, marketing, and handle returns of low volume brands. New brands must present very unique or compelling cases to carriers," Fieldhack notes.