Do not think that the smartphone market of billions of people has been “tragic” in the past year, a domestic giant still recorded a strong increase in sales, surpassing even Apple, making companies “just wish”

Honor Device was the only major Chinese phone maker to achieve sales growth in the market last year, despite the overall market slump falling to a decade low. century back here.

According to the latest data from IDC, Huawei Technologies’ previous sub-brand that was spun off into a separate business called Honor Device increased sales by 34.4% in 2022, while other companies Industry peers like Oppo and Vivo fell by more than 25%. 2022 is also the first year in 10 years that China’s smartphone shipments fall below 300 million, ending with 285.8 million handsets shipped.

China’s strict Zero Covid policy has had a major impact on consumer demand with the closure of shopping malls in early 2022. When restrictions were eased later in the year, the move led to nationwide contagion and the streets in major cities becoming deserted, reducing sales of consumer electronics.

Shenzhen-based Honor was sold to a consortium led by a Chinese state-owned company in 2020, helping part of Huawei’s phone business get through crippling US sanctions. operations of the parent company. Since then, the youth-focused brand has grown steadily and last year sought new funding as it prepared for its initial public offering.

Estimating market share in China could be a challenge in 2023. According to Counterpoint Research when looking at sales rather than delivery numbers, they rated Vivo and Apple as the two biggest phone brands in China. this country by 2022, in which Honor ranks fourth after Oppo with a market share of 16.7%.

References: Bloomberg, FT