Chinese phones pushing aside Apple, Samsung

"Samsung was a fast follower in terms of innovation," Chau said. "These Chinese players, they are even faster."

And while these phone companies are pushing cheap phones, they are starting to succeed in getting customers to pay more－though still not as much as an iPhone or a high-end Galaxy. For instance, the average price for Huawei smartphones in China was $213 last year, up 21 percent from 2014, according to IDC.

Having succeeded in China, these phone makers are looking elsewhere to grow. OPPO, China's fourth-largest smartphone maker according to IDC, is marketing aggressively in southeast Asia. Xiaomi already sells phones in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and India.

Analysts said Huawei and Xiaomi will likely steal customers from Apple and Samsung in their strongholds as some budget-conscious consumers seek to upgrade their phones without financial pressure.

Huawei is now the third-largest smartphone maker in the world. Its market share exceeded 7 percent last year, compared with less than 6 percent in 2014, according to IDC. That's still far behind Samsung's 23 percent and Apple's 16 percent, but success doesn't necessarily mean being No 1 everywhere.

In fact, ZTE mobile chief Adam Zeng said the Chinese phone maker wants to be in the top three in selected markets－read that as No 3－and not necessarily worldwide.

Even if gaps remain in market share, IDC's Chau said Chinese companies can at least close the gap in brand reputation in about three years. That's partly because Apple and Samsung are struggling to stay cool.

She said that while Apple is still the premium brand in China, "it's been around for a while and people are familiar with it. It lost the extra shine of being the new."