China’s smartphone shipments fell over 20 per cent in first 10 months of 2022, report says
Shipments of smartphones in China According to a government report, the country’s supply chain disruptions caused by the Great Recession saw a drop of over 20% in the first ten months of 2022. Covid-19 pandemic.
The drop in shipments from about 275 million units in the same period last year to about 214.5 million in 2022 also throws light on the slowing demand in the world’s largest smartphone market due to China’s deepening economic slump.
The report, published by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a scientific body under the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, noted that in October alone smartphone shipments dropped by over 27 per cent compared to last year.
The market’s plunge also reflects the impacts caused by the frequent draconian Covid lockdowns in the country as well as the weak economic environment in China.
International Data Corporation (IDC), an international technology and consulting company, had predicted that this decline of Chinese smartphone shipments would be lessen in 2023. However, a rebound in the following year is possible.
The slowing demand for smartphones has also caused Chinese companies such as Xiaomi Corp to begin rounds of layoffs, which have reduced its workforce by almost 10%. This year, over 900 jobs were eliminated.
The rising number of Covid-19-related infections in the country is a constant battle with the World Health Organization. noting last week that it is “very concerned over the evolving situation…with increasing reports of severe disease.”
Cases involving Covid-19 have surged in China after the country’s ruling communist party abandoned its controversial zero-Covid policy amid waves of protests, and has loosened restrictions and ended the requirement for daily PCR tests.
While Beijing’s official reports say there have been no new Covid deaths for six days through Sunday, reports from Reuters and the Associated Press point to drug shortages and queues at crematoriums You can find it in many places.
British health data firm Airfinity said last week that the daily infection rates in China could likely be over a million with more than 5,000 deaths a day – figures that are a stark contrast from official numbers.
As more workers across China fall ill amid the current surge in Covid-19 cases, experts point out that there could be further disruptions to supply chains in the short term before the country’s economy bounces back later in 2023.