A new report published this morning from Kantar for the three months ending in January 2015, show that Apple's iOS reached its highest ever share in urban China with one in every four smartphones sold being an iPhone. And with Apple opening  four new Apple Stores in time for the Chinese New Year, February's iPhone sales could enjoy another boost. 

Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reported that "Leading into Chinese New Year, Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus drove sales to an unprecedented high in urban China with iOS' share of the smartphone market reaching 25.4% – a 4.5 percentage point increase over the same period in 2014."

Tamsin Timpson, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia further noted that "In urban China, Apple iPhone 6 was the bestselling phone in the three months ending in January with a share of 9.5%. Xiaomi had several smartphones in the top 10 chart with the RedMi Note its bestselling device and the second most popular product behind the iPhone 6 which has a share of 8.9%." Over the past three months, Apple continued to close the gap with Xiaomi, which remained the leading brand in urban China but with only a 2.2 percentage point advantage.

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