China’s smartphone market shows signs of revival amid strong demand for Huawei’s new 5G handsets, Apple’s latest iPhones during ‘golden week’ holiday

China’s smartphone market, which has seen a slump in the first eight months of the year, is now showing signs of a revival on the back of brisk demand for Huawei Technologies’ new 5G handsets and Apple’s recently launched iPhone 15 series, according to analysts.

A “significant” 15 per cent year-on-year growth in smartphone sales was achieved during the “golden week” holiday, from September 29 to October 6, celebrating China’s National Day, according to a research note on Friday by TF International Securities analyst Kuo Ming-chi, known for his focus on Apple-related matters.

Macroeconomic headwinds, along with coronavirus-related disruptions since 2020, have weakened consumer demand in mainland China and shrunk smartphone sales since 2017. In the first eight months of 2023, China’s total unit volume sales fell 4 per cent year on year, according to data from market research firm Counterpoint.

Even China’s smartphone production continued to decline in the first eight months of the year. 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 month.