China smartphone shipments soar in 2021 but below pre-pandemic levels
Customers buy iPhone13 phones at Apple’s flagship smart product store in Shanghai, China, on October 12, 2021.
Xing Yun | Costfoto | Barcroft Media | beautiful pictures
According to government data, China’s domestic smartphone shipments have recovered from the pandemic but have yet to recover to pre-Covid levels.
The smartphone industry has been constrained by a variety of factors, from global semiconductor shortages to disruptions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak in China.
According to data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) on Tuesday, total domestic smartphone shipments reached 342.8 million units, up 15.9% year-on-year. last year.
That’s strong growth compared to 2020, which saw the market take a hit due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. Many parts of the country have been closed, effectively shut down large parts of the economy.
However, the smartphone shipment figure for 2021 is lower than the 371.7 million units shipped in 2019, before the pandemic began.
According to Neil Shah, partner at Counterpoint Research, the smartphone industry faces a number of problems in 2021, perhaps keeping the market from reaching pre-pandemic levels.
“Supply chain shortages” are a big problem, says Shah. referring to the global semiconductor shortage has hit industries from automotive to consumer electronics.
As part of the so-called “zero Covid” policy, China has put regions or cities on lockdown when it searches prevent the spread of outbreaks all year.
“Consumers are holding onto devices longer, and stopping the onset of COVID waves is also keeping consumer spending and shopping patterns muted,” said Shah.
CAICT does not provide a breakdown of market share by manufacturers.
However, separate data released by market research firm Canalys on Tuesday showed that worldwide smartphone shipments increased by just 1% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021. limited by supply chain shortages and the resurgence of Covid cases globally.
Canalys said Apple recaptures the top spot as the world’s largest smartphone maker with 22% market share, thanks to strong Korean demand for iPhone 13 Samsung followed with 20% market share.