Smartphone shipments in China up 17 per cent in April, signalling likely rebound

Smartphone makers shipped 40.8 million handsets in April, up from 34.8 million in the same month last year

The numbers suggest a potential return to normalcy in China for the broader consumer hardware market in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak

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A man wearing a protective face mask uses his smartphone to take a photo at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on May 10. China’s strong smartphone shipments in April suggest a rebound in the domestic market. Photo: AP

Published: 3:31pm, 12 May 2020Updated: 3:41pm, 12 May 2020

Smartphone shipments from China’s factories to vendors rose 17 per cent in April compared to the same month a year ago, according to government data released on Tuesday.

The numbers suggest an early domestic rebound for smartphone vendors, such as Apple and Huawei Technologies, and a potential return to normalcy in China for the broader consumer hardware market in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak.

Smartphone makers shipped 40.8 million handsets in April, up from 34.8 million in the same month last year, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a state-backed think tank.

For the first time in years, the CAICT did not reveal the percentage of Android devices shipped, a key metric that gave insight into Apple’s total iPhone sales in China each month.

Private research firms tracking the smartphone sector such as Canalys, IDC and Counterpoint Research all reported that shipments of Apple devices in the first quarter declined in the low single digits.