TECH

China's domestic smartphone market data for March shows at 6% decline

Beyond all the razzmatazz that accompany the entry of a new phone model, the smartphone industry has been on a consistent decline due to saturation. This trend is not specific to China but the domestic market seems to have taken most of the hit due to the fact that most Android phones are from Chinese OEMs. China Telecom Institute recently released its report on the domestic mobile phone market in China for the month of March 2019. The report shows that a total of 28.373 million mobile phones were shipped in March which represents 6% tumble when compared to figures from the same period last year. The data shows that the shipment is an improvement over that of February. Smartphones accounted for 94.9% of the mobile phone shipments during the period. An estimated 26.963 million smartphones were shipped which is 4.1% drop year-on-year.
The report also shows that the first quarter of 2019 saw the market ship 76,931 million units of mobile phones, down by 11.9% YoY. 4G mobile phones accounted for 73.17 million units which represent a 10.5% reduction, going by the data collected during the same period last year. However, 4G phones accounted for 95.3% of mobile phone shipment during the period. An estimated 3.57 million feature phones (2G) were shipped during the period while just 45,000 3G phones made it to consumers.
In March 2019, 52 new models were launched, down 35.0% year-on-year. The new models included eleven (11) 2G mobile phones and forty-one (41) 4G mobile phones. While from January-March, 125 new models were launched, down 39.3% year-on-year. The new models that were launched during the period include twenty-four (24) 2G mobile phones, one 3G mobile phone model, and 100 4G mobile phones. J. John