When it comes to smartphones, Chinese consumers have more choices than ever - but looking at sheer profits, the iPhone still reigns supreme.

Chinese sales of the phone gave a leg-up to Apple's revenue in the quarter ending in June, and now make up a over quarter of the company's global business.

Hot on Apple's heels though are some homegrown players and they're all aiming for the throne.

Huawei may not yet be a household name in the U.S. but it's the fourth-largest smartphone maker in the world.

It doubled revenue in China since January by shifting to high-end models like the P8.

And the success of Huawei at home is also keeping the company on-track to reach its goal of being the first Chinese company ever to ship 100 million handsets worldwide in a year.

ZTE is another another local company upping their game abroad - trying to shake off the image of Chinese phones as "budget" devices.

With mega-sponsorship deals with the NBA, the company has seen their sales in the U.S. soar - and they aim to ship 20 million phones there this year.

They're so confident that they even launched their new Axon phone in the U.S. a week before it went on sale in China.