China smartphone rebound not expected until Q4

China’s smartphone market suffered its largest-ever drop in shipments in Q1, with IDC forecasting Covid-19 (coronavirus) lockdown restrictions and an economic downturn to curb consumer demand until the final quarter of the year.

Shipments tumbled 20.3 percent year-on-year to 66.6 million units and are only expected to record annual growth in Q4 “as the global Covid-19 situation hopefully improves and 5G products reach a lower price range”, said Will Wong, research manager for client devices at IDC Asia-Pacific.

Of total shipments, 5G models accounted for more than a fifth, aided by declining ASPs. Huawei took a 55.4 percent share of the segment, followed by Vivo (14.4 percent), Oppo (13.9 percent) and Xiaomi (13.3 percent).

Huawei also led the overall market, boosting its share by more than 8 percentage points to 42.6 percent despite shipments falling 4.4 percent to 28.4 million units. IDC said the vendor’s performance was mainly due to early price promotions on the Mate 30 and P30 series, along with significant price cuts on sub-brand Honor’s V30 and 9X ranges.

Vivo held second place with an 18.1 percent share. Its shipments dropped 24.5 percent to 11.8 million units. Oppo’s shipments fell 15.8 percent to 17.8 million, while Xiaomi’s plunged 33.8 percent to 7 million units.

Apple remained fifth, with 5.1 million units shipped a decline of 12.2 percent, but market share up from 6.9 percent to 7.6 percent.

―Mobile World Live