Handset shipments totaled 21.46 million in March, down 40.5 percent from the year before. Shipments of 5G smartphones fell 41.1 percent to 16.19 million in March, accounting for 75.4 percent of total handset shipments for the month, said data from the CAICT, which is a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The Monday data pointed to a deeper contraction in the domestic market for mobile phones amid broad-based consumption sluggishness. Chip shortages that have hampered the output of automobiles, smartphones and other products contributed to the lackluster shipments, analysts said.

The reading for February came in at 14.86 million, down 31.7 percent from the prior year, while that for 5G phones shrank 24.5 percent year-on-year to 11.37 million.

Out of 69.35 million in domestic handset shipments over the first quarter, 98.2 percent were smartphones. Shipments of smartphones dropped 29.2 percent year-on-year during the period.

Shipments of 5G gadgets slid 22.9 percent to 53.88 million during the first three months this year, per the CAICT figures.

Over the first quarter, 103 new phone models were unveiled in the domestic market, down 15.6 percent.

Global Times