In Q4 2022, China’s smartphone sales declined 15% YoY. Therefore, sales declined YoY in double digits in every quarter of 2022. The sudden relaxing of the COVID-19 policy in December resulted in a surge in cases and led the market to decline 5% QoQ to record its lowest quarterly sales in the year, instead of posting a typical seasonal increase.
Since the spring of 2022, many cities in China, both large and small, were being subjected to COVID-19 restrictions, which negatively impacted consumer sentiment and further delayed smartphone replacements.
While Apple declined 3% YoY in 2022, it reached its highest-ever quarterly share, capturing 23.7% of the sales in Q4 2022. This was despite the shortages faced by the iPhone 14 Pro versions as well as the comparatively lower popularity of the iPhone 14 series’ non-Pro versions due to limited upgrades compared to the iPhone 13.
