In This Article:
Huawei Technologies took the crown in China's smartphone market in January, buoyed by a government subsidy scheme for electronics purchases, according to the latest numbers from industry consultancy Counterpoint Research.
Last year's bestselling brand Vivo came second, followed by Xiaomi. Together, the top three vendors contributed around 54 per cent of the nearly 29 million smartphones sold in China last month, the report on Wednesday showed.
Total sales in the market rose 17 per cent from a year earlier, with handsets priced between 2,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan (US$275 and US$688) growing the fastest.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
The Chinese smartphone market has been boosted by a government scheme that began on January 20, giving consumers a 15 per cent subsidy - capped at 500 yuan per purchase - for buying smartphones, tablets and smartwatches that cost under 6,000 yuan.
Smartphone sales from January 20 to 26, the first week of the programme, jumped 65 per cent year on year to over 9.5 million units, according to Counterpoint data.
Most of the models in Apple's premium iPhone 16 series are excluded from China's government subsidy scheme for consumers. Photo: AFP alt=Most of the models in Apple's premium iPhone 16 series are excluded from China's government subsidy scheme for consumers. Photo: AFP>
The nationwide subsidy scheme had "ignited the vitality" of the Chinese smartphone market and was expected to bring an additional growth of 2 to 3 percentage points in first quarter sales, the research firm said.
The government programme, aimed at boosting domestic consumption in a sluggish economy, comes as foreign and local brands are locked in a cutthroat competition in the world's largest smartphone market. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are poised to heighten the rivalry, as manufacturers rush to upgrade their devices with new features.
This quarter is expected to see the launch of several highly-anticipated new models.
Huawei, which climbed back to second place in China last year, this week teased a smartphone with a "new form factor" running its Android-free mobile platform HarmonyOS Next, to be unveiled in March.
The handset could be a new type of foldable smartphone, according to a report on Tuesday from news outlet China Star Market citing anonymous sources.