China’s smartphone market rides an 8-month slump, but Huawei’s release of new 5G handsets offers hope for rest of year

The country manufactured 679 million smartphones from January to August this year, down 7.5 per cent from the same period in 2022

Smartphone sales on the mainland have also slowed down, with total unit volume falling 4 per cent year on year in the same period

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Shoppers try out smartphones on display inside a Huawei Technologies’ store in Shanghai. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 10:00pm, 6 Oct 2023Updated: 1:15am, 7 Oct 2023

Smartphone production in mainland China continued to decline in the first eight months of this year, although analysts expect Huawei Technologies’ release of new 5G handsets in spite of US sanctions to help reinvigorate the industry’s biggest market.

The country manufactured 679 million smartphones from January to August this year, down 7.5 per cent from the same period in 2022, according to data published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology earlier this week.

Smartphone sales on the mainland have also slowed down. Total unit volume fell 4 per cent year on year in the first eight months of 2023, according to data from market research firm Counterpoint.

In the quarter to June, China’s smartphone consumption recorded its lowest second-quarter sales figure since 2014, as macroeconomic headwinds took a toll on consumer sentiment, Counterpoint said in a report published in July. It indicated a “relatively weak performance” for handset sales during China’s 618 shopping festival last June.

A woman compares a new iPhone 15 Pro with Huawei Technologies’ Mate 60 Pro handset at an Apple Store in Shanghai on September 22. Photo: Reuters

The sluggish performance of the world’s largest smartphone market reflects low consumer sentiment amid the country’s bumpy post-pandemic economy recovery, which has been weighed down by the property crisis, record high youth unemployment and weak confidence in the private sector.

The market’s outlook for the rest of 2023, however, could improve on the back of the new smartphones released by Huawei and Apple, as well as the coming winter sales season, according to Ivan Lam, senior research analyst at Counterpoint.

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China’s smartphone market rides an 8-month slump, but Huawei’s release of new 5G handsets offers hope for rest of year

The country manufactured 679 million smartphones from January to August this year, down 7.5 per cent from the same period in 2022 Smartphone sales on the mainland have also slowed down, with total unit volume falling 4 per cent year on year in the same period

The country manufactured 679 million smartphones from January to August this year, down 7.5 per cent from the same period in 2022

Smartphone sales on the mainland have also slowed down, with total unit volume falling 4 per cent year on year in the same period