China's January 2026 Domestic Handset Shipments Down 16% YoY, 7% MoM
CAICT, 3/04/26
A total of 22.87 mln mobile handsets were shipped in China in January 2026, down 16.1% YoY and 6.6% 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 January, 19.87 mln, or 86.9%, were 5G handsets, 3.00 mln, or 13.1%, 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.
A total of 20.07 mln handsets from domestic handset brands were shipped in China in January, down 12.1% YoY and 5.5% MoM, accounting for 87.8% of total handset shipments. Shipments of smartphones comprised 20.70 mln units, down 15.6% YoY and 9.5% MoM, accounting for 90.5% of total handsets shipped in China in January.
During the month of January, 37 new handset models were released in China, up 2.8% YoY, but down 9.8% MoM. Of the total new handset models released during the month, 20, or 54.1%, were 5G models, and 17, or 45.9%, were 4G models; 33, or 89.2%, of the new handset models were from domestic brands, and 32, or 86.5%, 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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