According to market forecasts released this week, China’s smartphone market is anticipated to rebound in the fourth quarter of 2023 and carry on improving into the following year, recording its first annual growth in three years.
According to a report released by IDC on Thursday, China, the largest smartphone market in the world, is expected to ship 287 million units in 2024, a 3.6% year-over-year increase, driven by an improving macroeconomy and consumer appetite for better gadgets.
This would mark the market’s first yearly growth since 2021. According to IDC, shipment volumes will probably stay consistent in the upcoming years.
According to IDC, vendors will be forced to release more competitive smartphones next year as a result of consumers’ growing desire for upgrades to models with greater storage and the intense competition among domestic smartphone brands.
Due to Covid-related disruptions and weaker consumer demand brought on by macroeconomic headwinds, China’s smartphone industry has been under pressure recently. But thanks to the buzz surrounding Huawei’s most recent Mate 60 series and the sales during November’s Singles’ Day shopping event, it began to rebound in the fourth quarter.
According to IDC, China’s fourth-quarter smartphone shipment volumes are probably going to increase for the first time in ten quarters.
Since Huawei’s September release of the Mate 60 Pro and the September release of the iPhone 15, there has been fierce competition. Xiaomi’s flagship Mi 14 series model, which debuted in October and sold one million units in less than two weeks, has also been in the lead.
Huawei stunned the industry in August when, in defiance of US tech sanctions meant to restrict its access to such technology, it unveiled the Mate 60 Pro, a smartphone sporting a cutting-edge 5G chip made in China.
According to a Counterpoint Research report, smartphone sales in China increased by 11% in the first four weeks of October over the same period in the previous year. Huawei’s sales increased by 90% during this same period.
According to an IDC report, the market will see a significant resurgence in 2024 thanks to the rapid growth of foldable smartphones, whose yearly shipments are predicted to increase 53.2% to nearly 10 million units.
As the price of essential components like the hinge and screen continue to decline, foldable devices are expected to become more popular due to their more reasonable prices, according to IDC.
With Chinese brands promoting the incorporation of AI into their smartphones, it is expected that AI will be used more extensively in next-generation smartphones. According to IDC, the application of AI in smartphones has the potential to put an end to the recent market lack of innovation.
