Projected rebound in China's smartphone market
The Chinese smartphone market saw modest decline in the third quarter, but the market is expected to bottom out in 2023, and rebound soon, researchers said on Friday.
In the third quarter, China's smartphone sales dropped 6.3 percent to 67 million units, according to researcher IDC. Another researcher Canalys reported sales decreased 5 percent in the quarter.
It was a modest decline compared with the double-digit decrease in recent years, when the market was hit by the pandemic.
"The market has bottomed out in 2023, and there is an expected gradual demand recovery," said Canalys Senior Analyst Toby Zhu.
The market is very close to the "changing point" as it will rebound to positive growth in the fourth quarter, the first time in recent years, according to IDC.
The top five vendors were Honor with 19.3 percent, followed by OPPO, Apple, Vivo and Xiaomi, according to IDC.
Apple's new iPhone 15 performance is "less-than-expected," while Huawei will generate a "Catfish Effect" on the competitive landscape in the future thanks to its popular Mate 60 models.
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