China's April 2026 Domestic Handset Shipments Up 3% YoY, 22% MoM
CAICT, 5/26/26
A total of 25.73 mln mobile handsets were shipped in China in April 2026, up 2.8% YoY and 21.7% 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 April, 24.74 mln, or 96.1%, were 5G handsets, 1.00 mln, or 3.9%, 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 4-month period from Jan-Apr 2026, a total of 86.54 mln mobile handsets were shipped in China, down 8.6% YoY. Of this total, 80.20 mln, or 92.7%, were 5G handsets, and 6.34 mln, or 7.3%, were 4G handsets.
A total of 22.14 mln handsets from domestic handset brands were shipped in China in April, up 2.9% YoY and 24.5% MoM, accounting for 86.1% of total handset shipments. Shipments of smartphones comprised 25.04 mln units, up 12.3% YoY and 24.6% MoM, accounting for 97.3% of total handsets shipped in China in April.
In the 4-month period from Jan-Apr 2026, 74.36 mln handsets from domestic handset brands were shipped in China, down 9.6% YoY, accounting for 85.9% of total handset shipments. During the same 4-month period, shipments of smartphones comprised 82.08 mln, or 94.8%, of total handsets shipped in China.
During the month of April, 59 new handset models were released in China, up 18.0% YoY and 210.5% MoM. Of the total new handset models released during the month, 37, or 62.7%, were 5G models, and 22, or 37.3%, were 4G models; 55 of the new handset models, or 93.2%, were from domestic brands, and 50, or 84.7%, were smartphone models.
In the 4-month period from Jan-Apr 2026, 138 new handset models were released in China, down 15.3% YoY; of this total, 85, or 61.6%, were 5G models, and 53, or 38.4%, were 4G models. Of the total new handset models released from Jan-Apr 2026, 130, or 94.2%, were from domestic brands, and 115, or 83.3%, 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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