Domestic smartphone shipments in China dropped 18.2% year-on-year to 32.4 million handsets in January, reports Reuters. The China Academy of Information and Communications (CAICT), a state-baked think-tank, reports that shipments were down from around 39.6 million in January 2021 and a touch below 32.7 million in December 2021.
Handset brands are currently experiencing production issues due to a global computer chip shortage.
A combination of factors including demand miscalculation, unexpected factory shutdowns and US-China tensions have prompted a number of automobile companies to report chip sourcing issues. That shortage has since spread to many types of chips and all kinds of hardware, including smartphones.