On April 29, Canalys' latest report showed that in the first quarter of 2022, the Chinese mainland smartphone market shipped only 75.6 million units, down 18% year-on-year and 13% month-on-month. It is important to note that the market experienced a seasonal correction in the quarter compared to the abnormal high in the first quarter of 2021.
Mobile China learned that Honor topped for the first time with 15 million units shipped and a staggering growth rate of 205%, with a market share of 20%. At the same time, OPPO (including OnePlus) held second place with shipments of 13.9 million units. It was followed by Apple, which managed to hold the top three positions after a strong performance in the fourth quarter of last year, with shipments of 13.8 million units. In addition, Vivo and Xiaomi ranked among the top five, with shipments of 12.2 million units and 10.6 million units, respectively. Overall, the total market share of the top five manufacturers in the first quarter of shipments reached 86%.
In response, Canalys analyst Amber Liu said: "A correction in this quarter is expected. As Huawei's shipments have declined in the past few quarters, competition among the top five vendors has intensified. Although most of the head manufacturers suspended the pace of new product releases in the first quarter, Honor still successfully achieved a 6% sequential growth in the first quarter. ”
In addition, Canalys analyst Toby Zhu said: "In order to cope with sudden retail closures and logistics delays, manufacturers have to adopt a more cautious stocking strategy, which is bound to affect short-term shipments. Macroeconomic uncertainty at home and abroad is increasing, and the impact on the low-end smart machine market is particularly obvious. This year, domestic manufacturers have no choice but to continue to increase investment in the mid-to-high-end market to hedge the risk of slowing mobile phone sales in the mass market. ”