Global recession hits China’s handset industry

January 5, 2017

Global recession has hit China’s handset industry, with mobile phone sales growth slumping in the third quarter, according to Taiwan’s ITIS project.

Worst affected was the CDMA segment, which saw shipments fall 7.8% on quarter and 3.4% on year to 18.9 million units.

CDMA handsets’ share of industry shipments fell to 10.8%.

GSM shipments, however, increased 8.4% on quarter and 6.4% on year to 155.1 million units.

Overall growth rate was 6.2% on month and 4.3% on year, down significantly from 2006 double digit peak growth figures.

Meanwhile, handset sales in Taiwan have been hit hard, falling 26% on year in the third quarter to NT$1.8 billion.

Despite the tough market conditions, Nokia maintained its market share lead in Taiwan with a 29.4% sales volume, followed by Sony on 20%, Samsung on 19.7%, Motorola on 8.1% and LG on 8.5%.

Taiwan-based smartphone maker HTC has confirmed plans for expansion in mainland China, where Nokia and Motorola control almost 90% of the smartphone market.