China’s smartphone shipments in 2022 will be the lowest in ten years

IDC, a market research agency, reported on Sunday, January 29 that China’s smartphone sales dropped 13% year-over-year in 2022, the sector’s steepest decline in a decade, due to customers’ cautious spending.

The overall number of devices delivered decreased from 329 million in 2022 to 286 million in 2023.

IDC stated in a research that total 2022 sales volume was the lowest since 2013 and the first time since then that annual sales have gone below $300 million.

With a market share of 18.6%, Android smartphone manufacturer Vivo was the year’s most popular brand. However, its overall exports decreased by 25.1% year-over-year.

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Honor was the second most popular brand, with shipment growth of over 34%, albeit from a low foundation.

Apple Inc was tied with Oppo as the third best-selling phone brand in 2022.

Apple’s total sales decreased 4.4% year-over-year, significantly outpacing the market decline.

In Q4, despite being the top-selling brand in the three-month period, year-on-year sales for iPhones were still down, as supply chain issues caused by worker unrest at manufacturer Foxconn’s plant in the city of Zhengzhou compounded worse-than expected demand, researchers wrote.

Tough COVID-

China’s economy, which sank to one of its weakest levels in nearly half a century last year, was substantially impacted by the 19 regulations that went into effect in spring 2022 across many cities.

The decline in smartphone sales in China mirrored the global performance of the industry. IDC predicts that global smartphone shipments will reach 1.2 billion in 2022, the lowest level since 2013 and a year-on-year decline of more than 11%.