China’s smartphone market sees lowest first-quarter shipments in a decade with an 11 per cent decline
- China’s first-quarter smartphone shipments fell to 67.6 million units in the first three months of the year
- Apple remains a bright spot for the industry, topping shipments in China with 20 per cent of the market for the quarter
China’s smartphone shipments fell 11 per cent in the first quarter to their lowest level in a decade, according to IT market consultancy Canalys, illustrating how sluggish consumer spending continues to weigh on the economy after the country ended Covid-19 control measures and reopened its borders.
Shipments in the world’s largest smartphone market dropped to 67.6 million units, according to the report released on Thursday, which is the lowest shipment numbers for the quarter ended March since 2013.
A separate report released on Thursday by Counterpoint, another market research firm, showed China’s smartphone sales falling 5 per cent in the first quarter to their lowest level for the period since 2014.
“Economic vitality has rebounded after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, but it has not brought any significant boost to the demand for smartphones,” said Lucas Zhong, an analyst at the research firm, adding that the Chinese market has “experienced its fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit decline”.
“The pandemic affected consumer behaviour in the medium to long term, where consumers tended to spend their income on necessary expenses,” he said.
