Chinese smart devices brand Honor, formerly owned by Huawei Technologies, reported the biggest growth in smartphone sales in the first quarter despite a 14% decline in the overall handset market.
Honor made the biggest gains in Q1, taking the fourth biggest slice of sales with 16.9%, with sales up 15.5% on the previous quarter.
Vivo and Oppo, both from the privately owned BBK Electronics, claimed the largest share of first quarter sales, with 19.7% and 18% of the market, respectively, research firm Counterpoint Research said.
Apple, which was China’s top-selling vendor in the previous quarter for the first time in six years thanks to the release of the iPhone 13, was the third-largest seller in the first quarter, claiming 17.9% of the market.
Huawei, once China’s best selling brand, sold its Honor unit in December 2020 to a consortium of agents and dealers as US sanctions crippled the parent’s smartphone sales. It held a market share of 6.2% in the first quarter.
Chinese retail sales lagged in the key coastal economic regions of Guangdong and Jiangsu in the first quarter, with areas hit by Covid-19 outbreaks also showing particular weakness, regional data showed.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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