Daniel Slotta
Research expert covering finance, real estate, and technology in Greater China
Get in touch with us nowSmartphone unit shipments in China 2012-2021
In 2021, the shipment volume of smartphones in China amounted to around 329.3 million units, a 1.1 percent increase from the year prior.
Smartphone usage
In 2020, the number of smartphones sold worldwide experienced a slight dip, with about 1.38 billion units sold. In the same year, over a third of the world’s population had access to a smartphone, as the global smartphone penetration rate passed the 46 percent mark for the first time. By that time, more than 55 percent of Chinese mobile phone users will be using a smartphone, as the number of smartphone users in China is estimated to reach 927 million.
Smartphone shipment development
In 2015, China surpassed the United States as the leading smartphone market in terms of shipments, which continue to rise to the peak at more than 467 million units in 2016. Since then, the economic slowdown started to hit China, leading to the smartphone shipment volume in China falling for around 100 million units in a few years. Almost all all smartphone vendors in China were severely affected, except for the biggest Chinese player Huawei, which still managed to increase the shipment by almost doubling the volume from 2016 to 2019.
Chinese smartphone vendors in the global market
Chinese smartphone manufacturers have been gaining in popularity worldwide since 2012. First it started with Huawei, and then came Oppo and Xiaomi. Samsung was still the leading smartphone vendor in the global market as of 2020, but both Apple and Samsung had lost significant market share to the Chinese vendors in this decade.
Smartphone usage
In 2020, the number of smartphones sold worldwide experienced a slight dip, with about 1.38 billion units sold. In the same year, over a third of the world’s population had access to a smartphone, as the global smartphone penetration rate passed the 46 percent mark for the first time. By that time, more than 55 percent of Chinese mobile phone users will be using a smartphone, as the number of smartphone users in China is estimated to reach 927 million.
Smartphone shipment development
In 2015, China surpassed the United States as the leading smartphone market in terms of shipments, which continue to rise to the peak at more than 467 million units in 2016. Since then, the economic slowdown started to hit China, leading to the smartphone shipment volume in China falling for around 100 million units in a few years. Almost all all smartphone vendors in China were severely affected, except for the biggest Chinese player Huawei, which still managed to increase the shipment by almost doubling the volume from 2016 to 2019.
Chinese smartphone vendors in the global market
Chinese smartphone manufacturers have been gaining in popularity worldwide since 2012. First it started with Huawei, and then came Oppo and Xiaomi. Samsung was still the leading smartphone vendor in the global market as of 2020, but both Apple and Samsung had lost significant market share to the Chinese vendors in this decade.
