SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Shipments of smartphones within China fell 18.2% year-on-year to 32.4 million handsets in January, the China Academy of Information and Communications (CAICT) reported late on Thursday.
Shipments were down from about 39.6 million in January 2021 and slightly below 32.7 million in December 2021, according to the CAICT, a state-backed think-tank.
Handset brands are currently experiencing production issues due to a global computer chip shortage.
A combination of factors including demand miscalculation, unexpected factory shutdowns and U.S.-China tensions have prompted a number of automobile companies to report chip sourcing issues.
That shortage has since spread to many types of chips and all kinds of hardware, including smartphones.
Delayed upgrades from consumers have also caused sales to slow.
(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Sam Holmes)
