Chinese Smartphone Market Starts Recovery on 5G Demand

Smartphone market in China rebounded last month because of high demand for 5G models. Smartphones that support the new generation networks reached 40% of shipments.

Government organization, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), said that the shipments in April grew 17.2% on a yearly basis to 40.8 million units. The number of 5G units shipped jumped from 6.21 million in March 16.4 million in April. Since the start of the year, vendors shipped 30.4 million 5G units, accounting for 34.4% of total shipments.

Total smartphone shipments were down 17.9% to 88.5 million in the opening four months. CAICT said domestic brands accounted for 89.4% of the total. The market suffered declines in February and March due to COVID-19 pandemic. IDC forecasts that shipments in China will grow on a yearly basis until the last quarter of the year.