Marbridge Daily

China's September 2018 Domestic Handset Shipments Down 11.7% YoY

CAICT, 10/15/18

A total of 39.02 mln mobile handsets were shipped in China in September 2018, down 11.7% YoY, but up 19.7% MoM, according to new figures released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a department of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Of total shipments in September, 37.01 mln were 4G handsets, down 11.0% YoY, 10,000 were 3G handsets, and 2.00 mln were 2G handsets.

In the 9-month period from Jan-Sep 2018, a total of 304.66 mln mobile handsets were shipped in China, down 17.0% YoY. Of this total, 287.85 mln were 4G handsets, down 16.7% YoY, 50,000 were 3G handsets, and 16.76 mln were 2G handsets.

A total of 34.46 mln handsets from domestic handset brands were shipped in China in September, down 9.1% YoY, accounting for 88.3% of total handset shipments. Shipments of smartphones comprised 36.77 mln, or 94.2%, of total handsets shipped in China in September. Of total smartphone shipments during the month, 89.0% were Android-based smartphones.

In the 9-month period from Jan-Sep 2018, 275.52 mln handsets from domestic handset brands were shipped in China, down 16.8% YoY, accounting for 90.4% of total handset shipments.

During the same 9-month period, shipments of smartphones comprised 286.86 mln, or 94.2%, of total handsets shipped in China. Of total smartphone shipments during the period, 89.8% were Android-based smartphones. The top 10 smartphone makers by shipment volume in China from Jan-Sep 2018 accounted for a combined 92.0% of smartphone shipments in China during the 9-month period, up 8.0 percentage points from the same period in 2017.

During the month of September, 91 new handset models were released in China, of which 72 were 4G models, 1 was a 3G model, and 18 were 2G models. Of the total new handset models released in September, 71, or 78.0%, were smartphone models, including 68 Android models and 3 iOS models.

2018 Monthly Number of New Smartphone Models Released in China by OS

In the 9-month period from Jan-Sep 2018, 635 new handset models were released in China, down 22.8% YoY; of this total, 488 were 4G models, 3 were 3G models, and 144 were 2G models. Of the total new handset models released from Jan-Sep 2018, 487, or 76.7%, were smartphone models, and of these 472 were Android models.

Editor's Note: CAICT's statistics cover domestically produced, domestically shipped handsets from both Chinese and foreign brands, but do not include imported handsets or exports of domestically produced units. Only handsets shipped through official channels are included, meaning grey market or "shanzhai" handsets are not covered in CAICT's figures. "Shipped" means only that the manufacturer shipped the handset to a wholesaler or retailer, where it may or may not have been sold to a consumer during the month under discussion.

Keywords: handset smartphone wireless 4G Android MIIT 3G iOS shipment volume CAICT handset model national statistics