China's December 2025 Domestic Handset Shipments Down 29% YoY, 19% MoM
CAICT, 1/30/26
A total of 24.47 mln mobile handsets were shipped in China in December 2025, down 29.1% YoY and 18.9% 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 December, 22.13 mln, or 90.4%, were 5G handsets, 2.34 mln, or 9.6%, were 4G handsets, and none were 3G and 2G handsets. Note that CAICT breaks out shipment figures only for 5G and 4G models, to the nearest 1,000 units and 10,000 units, respectively.
In the 12-month period from Jan-Dec 2025, a total of 306.55 mln mobile handsets were shipped in China, down 2.4% YoY. Of this total, 266.35 mln, or 86.9%, were 5G handsets, 40.14 mln, or 13.1%, were 4G handsets, and the remaining 62,000, or less than 0.1%, were 3G and 2G handsets.
A total of 21.24 mln handsets from domestic handset brands were shipped in China in December, down 31.0% YoY and 8.6% MoM, accounting for 86.8% of total handset shipments. Shipments of smartphones comprised 22.87 mln units, down 29.4% YoY and 20.5% MoM, accounting for 93.4% of total handsets shipped in China in December.
In the 12-month period from Jan-Dec 2025, 262.06 mln handsets from domestic handset brands were shipped in China, down 2.5% YoY, accounting for 85.5% of total handset shipments. During the same 12-month period, shipments of smartphones comprised 284.61 mln, or 92.8%, of total handsets shipped in China.
During the month of December, 41 new handset models were released in China, up 28.1% YoY and 32.3% MoM. Of the total new handset models released during the month, 11, or 26.8%, were 5G models, and 30, or 73.2%, were 4G models; 40, or 97.6%, of the new handset models were from domestic brands, and 21, or 51.2%, were smartphone models.
In the 12-month period from Jan-Dec 2025, 515 new handset models were released in China, up 15.5% YoY; of this total, 234, or 45.4%, were 5G models, and 281, or 54.6%, were 4G models. Of the total new handset models released from Jan-December 2025, 491, or 95.3%, were from domestic brands, and 330, or 64.1%, were smartphone 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 knock-off 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 MIIT 5G CAICT handset model shipment volume national statistics domestic vendor
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