China Smartphone Sales See Promising Holiday Growth

Growth may return to China’s smartphone market, the world’s biggest, later this year following promising sales during the “Golden Week” period that ended on 6 October, according to an analyst.

TF International Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo, known for his Apple-related research, said a 15 percent year-on-year growth achieved during the period was a “significant” sign.

“The slump in the Chinese smartphone market will be over soon, with expectations of renewed growth,” he said in a research note.

Kuo said he expects the market to see the market return to growth in the fourth quarter of this year, spurred by demand for Huawei’s popular new mystery 5G handsets, the Mate 60 Pro and Mate 60 Pro+, and Apple’s iPhone 15.

Economic headwinds

Smartphone sales have fallen in China since 2017 and in recent times have been further hampered by macroeconomic issues related to Covid-19 and a struggling property market.

In the first eight months of this year total unit volume sales in the country fell 4 percent year-on-year, according to Counterpoint.

China’s smartphone production also fell during the period by 7.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

But China’s smartphone export volume rose to 83.5 million units in September, almost 30 percent up from 64.6 million in August, according to government data released on Friday.

Even so, total smartphone export volume from January to September remained down 8.5 percent year-on-year at 561.4 million units.

Recovery ‘underway’

China is a key market for a  number of industries, including electric vehicles, smartphones and semiconductors.

The country’s economy had been expected to return to growth this year, following years of Covid-19 lockdowns, but has been hampered by multiple factors including a crisis in the housing market.

Tourism and spending figures overall for Golden Week – the period between the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day – were slightly higher than a year earlier, but fell short of government projections.

The tourism data suggested that “additional policy easing will be necessary for further recovery in consumption and services”, wrote Goldman Sachs analysts on Sunday, adding that a recovery was still underway.