SHANGHAI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - China's smartphone sales
endured a record fall in 2022, tumbling 13% to their lowest
level in a decade as COVID controls and a slowing economy sapped
consumer appetite, data from third-party research firms showed.The total number of devices shipped was 286 million, down
from 329 million in 2022. It was the lowest sales volume since
2013 and the first time since then that annual sales have
dropped below 300 million, IDC said in a report.Strict COVID-19 controls weighed heavily on the Chinese
economy last year but Beijing started dismantling the
restrictions in December, boosting consumption."The strict pandemic control poicy has resulted in
historically high household savings as consumer spending became
conservative," said Lucas Zhong, who tracks China's smartphone
sector for research firm Canalys.Android handset maker Vivo was the top-selling brand in
2022, with a market share of 18.6%, according to IDC. Its total
shipments fell 25.1% year-on-year.Huawei Technologies spin-off Honor ranked as the
second best-selling brand, with shipments growing more than 34%,
albeit from a low base.Apple Inc was the third best-selling phone brand in
2022, tied with Oppo, moving up from fourth place in the
previous year.Apple's overall sales fell 4.4% year-on-year, according to
IDC, while all other rivals excluding Honor saw sales fall in
the double digits.Overall, the plunge in smartphone sales in China reflected
the sector's performance globally. In 2022, global smartphone
shipments hit 1.2 billion, the lowest since 2013 and a
year-on-year fall of more than 11%, according to IDC.A separate report from Canalys published on Monday said that
in the fourth quarter of 2022, Apple sold 16.4 million devices,
down 24% year-on-year. This compared to a 37.3% shipments slump
from Xiaomi and Honor's 14.1% fall during the same quarter.That marks the first time Apple shipments dropped
year-on-year in China since early 2020, when the first wave of
COVID-19 swept the country. The fall was caused by an earlier
release of the latest iPhone series as well as by worker unrest
at its major manufacturer Foxconn's plant in the city of
Zhengzhou that impacted its supply chain, Canalys said.Still, Apple remained the top-selling phone maker in China
in the quarter, hitting record-high market share, Canalys added.
(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Robert Birsel and
Stephen Coates)