China’s smartphone shipments tumble 31 per cent in July as lack of major releases, Covid-19 lockdowns dampen local demand
- Total smartphone shipments in China reached 19.1 million units in July, down from 27.7 million in the same month last year
- Chinese smartphone brands accounted for 91.8 per cent of shipments in July, with 18 new models released during the period
Total domestic smartphone shipments reached 19.1 million units in July, compared to 27.7 million in the same month last year, according to a new report by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The latest smartphone shipment number is also below the 21 million units recorded in July 2012.
For the first seven months of 2022, total smartphone shipments in China reached 153 million units, down 23 per cent from the same period last year.
The two Pro models accounted for about 85 per cent of all iPhone 14 pre-orders in China, according to Kuo Ming-chi, an analyst at TF Securities who covers Apple.
Still, it may be too early to be bullish about the impact of iPhone 14 pre-orders in China, according to a research note from Jefferies equity analysts led by Edison Lee.
“We need to see the pre-orders for a few more days to judge if the strength may continue,” the Jefferies note said. “Note that the pre-order has no commitment since it does not involve payment obligation. Moreover, iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max attract the highest-end consumers who are not price sensitive and would likely upgrade their phones every year.”
Jefferies analysts also continued to be bearish on the global smartphone outlook. “Even though the early pre-order volume in China points to a bullish outlook for iPhone 14 sales, we believe any better-than-expected strength in iPhone sales would likely mean more share loss of the Android camp,” the Jefferies note said.
Total smartphone shipments worldwide are expected to reach 1.36 billion units this year, down from 1.39 billion in 2021, according to the latest global forecast from Counterpoint Research published in June. In contrast, smartphone shipments last year rose 4 per cent from 2020’s 1.33 billion total.