Huawei’s return in 5G phone segment boosted Chinese smartphone market in 2023

Huawei made a powerful return in the Chinese smartphone market with the Mate 60 series 5G launch in August 2023. The new product not only raised the industry’s sales revenue but also helped the native market to gain fruitful results.

The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology has shared a new report on the native region smartphone shipments and overall growth rate. Despite strong competition, the Chinese smartphone market obtained good enough outcomes last year, compared to 2022.

According to the details, the respective smartphone market shipped 289 million units in 2023, which was 272 million in 2022. A major reason behind this ultimate increase was the immense demand for 5G phones among consumers.

The Chinese smartphone market has been going through a tough time for the last few years. However, it started reigniting and showed new signs of recovery after the amazing phone sales campaign from Huawei.

Mate 60 Series:

Thanks to the Mate 60 series, which has pulled achievements from all corners of the merchandise. Even though Huawei has been chained to the strict U.S. sanctions, the company managed to step back into the 5G smartphone segment.

Meanwhile, the Kirin 5G implementation to Mate 60 Pro appeared as a turning point amid increasing U.S. restrictions. The high-end features and efficient performance of Huawei 5G handsets attracted consumers and resulted in unexpected sales.

On the flip side, Huawei’s demand began pressurizing Apple and other foreign tech vendors to cut off prices in the native region. Currently, the iPhone 15 series is in the discount phase to chase new customers in China. Though Huawei is far away from this path.

In 2023, the shipments of 5G smartphones reached 11.9% YoY. Earlier, this rate fell to 19.6 %. Adding positive insights to this report, IDC analyst Will Wong said that the Chinese smartphone market is expected to see full-year growth in 2024.

Apart from Huawei 5G, other native brands also contributed to the rise of the Chinese smartphone market in 2023 and made up around 231 million unit shipments.

(Source)