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, reports the South China Morning Post. The country manufactured 679 million smartphones from January to August this year, down 7.5% 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% 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.
