China's May 2025 Domestic Handset Shipments Down 22% YoY, 5% MoM
CAICT, 7/04/25
A total of 23.72 mln mobile handsets were shipped in China in May 2025, down 21.8% YoY and 5.3% 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 May, 21.19 mln, or 89.3%, were 5G handsets, 2.53 mln, or 10.7%, 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 5-month period from Jan-May 2025, a total of 118.42 mln mobile handsets were shipped in China, down 2.8% YoY. Of this total, 102.12 mln, or 86.2%, were 5G handsets, 16.27 mln, or 13.7%, were 4G handsets, and the remaining 36,000, or less than 0.1%, were 3G and 2G handsets.
A total of 19.18 mln handsets from domestic handset brands were shipped in China in May, down 24.2% YoY and 10.9% MoM, accounting for 80.9% of total handset shipments. Shipments of smartphones comprised 22.53 mln units, down 21.2% YoY, but up 1.0% MoM, accounting for 95.0% of total handsets shipped in China in May.
In the 5-month period from Jan-May 2025, 101.44 mln handsets from domestic handset brands were shipped in China, down 0.1% YoY, accounting for 85.7% of total handset shipments. During the same 5-month period, shipments of smartphones comprised 109.36 mln, or 92.3%, of total handsets shipped in China.
During the month of May, 39 new handset models were released in China, down 23.5% YoY and 22.0% MoM. Of the total new handset models released during the month, 13, or 33.3%, were 5G models, and 26, or 66.7%, were 4G models; 36, or 92.3%, of the new handset models were from domestic brands, and 27, or 69.2%, were smartphone models.
In the 5-month period from Jan-May 2025, 202 new handset models were released in China, up 7.4% YoY; of this total, 95, or 47.0%, were 5G models, and 107, or 53.0%, were 4G models. Of the total new handset models released from Jan-May 2025, 192, or 95.0%, were from domestic brands, and 143, or 70.8%, 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 3G 5G CAICT handset model shipment volume national statistics domestic vendor
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