In March of this year a list of the world's top phone vendors was published. Twelve names were on it, and of those a stunning eight were Chinese.
Far from the knock-off merchants they have so often been categorised as, companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and more have been almost unstoppable in their ascendance.
But what does this mean for consumers in the West? On the surface of it, not a great deal. These manufacturers have tended to focus almost exclusively on China and other emerging markets, particularly India.
For various reasons many of them have opted to avoid the West almost entirely, only dipping their toes in every now and then. A great deal of this has to do with patent law, which is a story for another day (preferably a long gloomy winter's eve). That means the handsets can be a little tricky to get hold of.
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The opportunity does exist for those of you with a little gumption and knowledge to successfully snare yourself a super Chinese smartphone. In doing so you can get a cracking deal, with specs to make even the most hardened power hounds weep with envy, and often at a third of the price of the well known flagships.
The market is totally different however, and there are many pitfalls to avoid. Read on for eight top tips on buying handsets from abroad.
1. Research your handset
This may seem like an obvious first step, but the reality is harder than you might think. To begin with there can often be a lack of reviews for many handsets, especially those from lesser known companies such as Doogee, Elephone and Cubot.
Set a budget for yourself, trawl the web and draw up a list of three or four phones that particularly appeal (for example the Xiaomi Mi5, the Elephone P9000 and the Meizu Pro 6).
It's worth noting that there's a particular love for phablets in China, so those with smaller hands may want to steer clear.
2. 4G or no 4G?
Everyone wants superfast internet on their smartphone, so a key thing to check is whether the phones you're looking at support the correct LTE bands for your country.
Many Chinese handsets come without support for Band 20, which for example is used by O2 in the UK, and would mean no 3G or 4G internet when using such a phone on a network which relies on this band.
3. Dodge update doldrums
The next thing to do is look a little further into the company behind your handset. Take Xiaomi for instance. Every phone from the firm comes running MIUI, a proprietary skin of Android, and does not run Google services.
Xiaomi regularly updates its software, bringing new versions of Android to customers at a relatively decent speed.
However, it's the exception rather than the rule. If you plan on keeping your handset for any length of time, try to ensure you pick a manufacturer with an established reputation for software update support, otherwise the first bug you find may continue indefinitely.
4. The customer is always right
There's another major thing to bear in mind before buying a Chinese smartphone, after-sales support. If you would like to receive this, don't buy 'gray imports'.
With limited presence (and in some cases none) in the West, parts and expertise are scant should a repair be needed, so have a think before buying and certainly before dropping the phone you've chosen onto unforgiving cement.
This may change in the years to come as manufacturers continue to expand their global presence, but for the moment it can be a difficult choice to make.
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