Strict COVID-19 restrictions and economic demand proved to be a double barrel of bad news for China’s smartphone market in 2022. The market took a hit of 13.2 percent in 2022, with both 2022 and Q4 shipment near a decade low, according to IDC.
Last year, 285.8 million smartphones were shipped in China, down 13.2% year-on-year (YoY). The market dropped 12.6 percent in Q4 over the corresponding period the previous year.
Vivo led with 18.6 percent market share in 2022 but the gap between it and the next three was a mere 1.8 percent. Honor was next with 18.1 percent while Oppo and Apple both had 16.8 percent share. Xiaomi rounded up the Top 5 with 13.7 percent share.
“The historically low shipments raise an alarm bell for smartphone vendors to rethink how to build a more sustainable business model and a more targeted marketing strategy,” said Will Wong, Senior Research Manager for Client Devices at IDC Asia/Pacific.
“On the positive side, the end of the zero-COVID policy provides a tailwind to the market, though a quick rebound is unlikely as consumers spend on areas like leisure and services instead,” he added.
Entelechy Asia 