China smartphone market, 4Q 2022

Smartphone shipments to the China market amounted to 70.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2022, soaring 21.2% from a quarter ago thanks to vendors' keen preparation for Singles' Day promotions and inventory ramp-up in December for the Lunar New Year holidays in January 2023. However, the volumes still went down 13% from the same quarter a year ago.

In the first quarter of 2023, after the Lunar New Year holidays end, smartphone sales in China are expected to weaken significantly from February to March. Since most consumers in China are still pessimistic about the domestic economy in the first quarter of 2023, China's consumer confidence is unlikely to recover anytime soon; therefore, smartphone brands' combined shipments to the China market are expected to witness a near double-digit on-year decline in the quarter.

Comparing the top-5 China-based brands' fourth-quarter 2022 shipments to the levels seen in the same quarter of 2021, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi had experienced an on-year decline while Huawei and Honor enjoyed growth.