Counterpoint: 5G phones accounted for one-third of China's smartphone sales in the second quarter

Beijing time, July 29 morning news, market research firm Counterpoint released a report saying that in the second quarter of 2020, China's smartphone sales fell 17% year-on-year, but increased 9% month-on-month. Although the new crown epidemic has been basically controlled in China, the demand for smartphones has not yet returned to the level before the epidemic.

Counterpoint Research believes that although business activities in China have gradually recovered since the epidemic weakened, consumer confidence remains low. OEMs and Chinese operators are promoting 5G smartphones by lowering the prices of 5G devices and packages. This has pushed up 5G penetration, and one-third of smartphones sold in China in the second quarter were 5G phones, ranking first in the world. But this still cannot offset the downward trend of the entire market.

Huawei still dominates the Chinese smartphone market, with a market share of 46% in the quarter. Despite the overall market shrinkage, Huawei achieved a 14% year-on-year growth. Apple had the fastest growth in the quarter, with a year-on-year increase of 32%.

June also became the best performing month this year since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Xiaomi's sales surging 42% month-on-month and Huawei's growth of 11%.

In addition, despite the shrinkage of China's overall smartphone market, the 5G market has developed rapidly. In the second quarter, 33% of smartphones sold in China supported 5G technology, compared with only 16% in the first quarter. The proportion in June even exceeded 40%. HOVX (Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi) has a total of 96% of China's 5G mobile phone market share. Huawei's share is as high as 60%, followed by Vivo, OPPO and Xiaomi.

Although China's 5G smartphones are still dominated by mid-to-high-end products, they are gradually penetrating into low-priced products. Huawei dominates the high-end 5G smartphone market, while the four major HOVX manufacturers have all made arrangements in the terminal market.