China's handset vendors as a whole are expected to see their combined shipments experience a double-digit decline annually in the second half of 2020 as their export shipments would be still constrained by the persistence of the coronavirus pandemic in some overseas markets, while domestic demand has yet to recover its momentum, according to Digitimes Research.
China's smartphone shipments expanded strongly by 43.3% sequentially to 157 million units in second-quarter 2020 thanks to inventory build-ups by channel operators and a low base recorded in the previous quarter, although the figures were still down 15.2% from a year earlier, Digitimes Research's figures show.
The top-4 vendors – Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi – accounted for 82.3% of China's domestic smartphone shipments in the second quarter as they were forced to focus on shipments in the domestic market due to constraints at exports.
Huawei saw its second-quarter shipments grow 2.1% on year, while Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi all suffered on-year shipment declines, with Xiaomi experiencing a steep fall of 27.1% due to a significant setback in its overseas shipments.
Although China's handset vendors are expected to roll out 5G phones priced roughly at CNY1,000 (US$143) in the second half to ramp up sales, weak domestic economy and job market and a lukewarm prospect for global economy will hurdle their shipments in the latter half of the year.