iPhone is fifth most popular in China

Apple would like to see better numbers overseas, but China is proving to be a tough market for Western corporations to crack.

All Things D is reporting that Samsung is still king of the hill in China, with Samsung products still earning triple the sales of the iPhone. China is the world's biggest mobile market, and Apple wants more than the 7.5% share it is getting there so far. And the bad news doesn't stop there: According to the latest reports,Apple's share is actually diminishing.

Part of the reason Apple can't get the traction it wants is that it refuses to make a deal with China's largest telecom company, China Mobile Ltd. That's going to be difficult, because China Mobile wants a share of App Store revenues, and that's a non-starter for Apple. With the two mobile partners Apple currently has, it will never get access to more than about a third of China's active cellular users. Someone will have to blink to make a deal, but so far it is a staring contest, and Apple remains in fifth place in sales.

Samsung, on the other hand, is on all three big networks in China, and is reaping the rewards.