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China's first-tier smartphone vendors, notably Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, have continued to expand their market share in China at the expense of local second- and third-tier players which are facing dismal outlook, according to sources from Taiwan's handset supply chain.

The top-four vendors had a combined share of over 60% of China's smartphone market in the first quarter of 2018, a phenomenon which has made not only other local peer companies but also even some international brands hard to maintain their shipments at economics of scale, said the sources.

Among them, ZTE is expected to see its smartphone shipments hit bottom in 2018 as channel operators in China have been reluctant to continue to promote the company's products on concerns of steady supply of key components after the US placed a supplier ban on ZTE in April, indicated the sources.

ZTE ranked eighth in the global smartphone shipments, as well as fourth in the US smartphone market, in 2017, according to IHS Markit.

Meizu has been plagued by corporate restructuring since 2017 following a dismal performance in the year in which smartphone shipments totaled about 20 million units, said the sources.

As part of its cost-down efforts, Meizu has laid off more than 600 employees so far in 2018 and also integrated the two business units previously responsible for the development of Meizu- and Meilan-brand smartphones, the sources noted.

Meanwhile, Gionee has been engulfed with financial difficulties, forcing upstream component suppliers to adopt a stringent policy on accepting orders from the company, indicated the sources.

Gionee has seen its smartphone shipment decline sharply in recent months, with total amount likely to be less than one million units a quarter, estimated the sources.

On the other hands, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo have continued to see their shipment momentum ramping up, said the sources.

Xiaomi's recent launch of Red Mi 5 Plus, which targets the sub-CNY1,000 (US$150) segment, has received well response from the market, said the sources, adding that Xiaomi plans to show off its new flagship model in the third quarter.

Vivo has unveiled recently a new flagship model, the Vivo Nex, which comes with a number of new features, including an in-display fingerprint sensor as well as a pop-up selfie camera.

Oppo also unveiled recently its new flagship model, the Oppo Find X, in Paris and Beijing, respectively. The Find X sports a 3D structure light technology for facial recognition. The 3D technology also supports mobile payments. Oppo is likely to ramp up its shipments to over 100 million units in 2018, estimated the sources.