Market research firm Canalys has anticipated that the number of smartphones in China will reach over 1.4 billion units by the year 2020, surpassing the number of smartphones in the United States in the same year, a number which is predicted to reach 332 million.

China currently has around 700 million mobile users, of which most of access the Internet via their mobile devices.

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According to research director Nicole Peng of Canalys APAC, the reason for the rapid growth in the smartphone usage in the country is due to multiple influences, such as the government's "Internet Plus" initiative, which supports the adoption of new smart devices and the application of the Internet with conventional industries.

Other factors include the rise of virtual reality (VR), mobile payment services, and smart home devices in the country. This year, Chinese smartphone makers - Huawei and ZTE - have entered into the VR market by introducing their first VR headsets that rely on smartphones.

According to ZDNet, Ms. Peng said, "Chinese consumers are at the forefront of smartphone adoption. Smarter vehicles, virtual reality (VR), and the Internet of Things will become bigger parts of people's lives through the government's 'Internet Plus' initiative and the increasing competition between local technology leaders."

In the VR realm, iResearch Consulting Group predicted that China's virtual reality market will be worth $8.5 billion by 2020. In mobile payments, the country is currently leading the global race as the number of Chinese users is expected to reach around 195.3 million in 2016 as compared to the United States' 37.5 million. It is predicted that nearly half of the total number of smartphone users in China will be making payments using their mobile devices by 2020.

TagsChina Smartphones 2020, Chinese smartphone news, china, canalys research firm, Internet, Virtual Reality, VR