In the recent earnings conference call, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook made no secret of the fact that China is a major area of focus for the company moving forward -- so much so that figures for the region will now enjoy their own break down when the company reports in the future. The question that has not been answered -- or even really addressed -- is how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will approach its China strategy. The conundrum which has emerged is between two disparate plans of attack: build a cheap iPhone to compete with less-costly Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android options, or maintain its status as the ultra-premium brand in the space in hopes that sales will be sufficient.

The Android domination Android's global domination by market share is not new information. In a recent SFGate article, Caleb Garling explains:

In the third quarter of 2012, worldwide manufacturers -- among them Apple, Samsung, HTC and Research in Motion -- shipped 181.1 million smartphones, according to market analytics group IDC. Google's Android operating system was installed on 75 percent of them, says IDC; Apple's system, iOS, was on about 15 percent. That market share for Android was a 91 percent jump from the previous year's third quarter.

This follows an earlier IDC report that placed Android's global market share at 68.3% compared to 18.8% for iOS, and echoes the sentiment of Raymond James' Travis McCourt, who explained that "there are parts of the world where a smartphone is simply a touch screen with an effective web browser, and in those parts of the world, Android is dominating."

The real takeaway here is that at the lowest-cost part of the spectrum, Google is running away with the show. This is of particular importance when you consider that while global smartphone sales growth is roughly 46%, in emerging markets that number spikes to 63%. These markets, like the one that exists in China, are largely driven by price. In mature markets, like the U.S., the relative sales figures are much closer between the top two players, but Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is not even in the fight for the lower end of the market.

Good news coming from the East The China section on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s earnings call was largely considered the bright spot of the announcement. For the quarter, China accounted for $6.83 billion in sales, and CEO Tim Cook pointed out that iPhone sales doubled. The sales figure represents a 66% increase over the $4.08 billion in sales from a year earlier. The enhanced reporting for China is a further indication of how important the region is to the company.

But it's not all wine and roses It is hard to talk smartphones in China without considering the activity of Samsung. The company recently reported a 76% boost in sales that was driven, according to a Bloomberg article, "by sales of low-cost smartphones to Chinese consumers unable to afford Apple's iPhones." The company has been a regular thorn in Apple's side as it does battle for supremacy in both the marketplace and the courtroom. Estimates place Samsung's fourth-quarter sales around 63 million units, easily ahead of the 47.8 million iPhones sold by Apple. IDC places Samsung at the top of the heap of smartphone purveyors in China, relative to sixth place for Apple. Overall, Apple may be looking to China as a solid source of growth, but Samsung is standing squarely between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and the 1 billion wireless users up for grabs in the region.