(Yicai Global) March 3 -- Smartphone shipments in China may slightly decline this year as post-Covid recovery should gather pace next year, according to a phone industry consultancy.

Shipments should edge down by 1.1 percent to 283 million units this year from last year, IDC China said in a report published on WeChat today. Worldwide, shipments of such devices will also fall by 1.1 percent to less than 1.2 million. 

Consumers are spending less on electronics as high inflation and uncertainties in the global economy weaken consumption recovery, per the report. Markets around the world should bounce back to a certain extent from the second half and the rebound might extend into 2024 as macroeconomic environments improve. In China, smartphone shipments may increase by 6.2 percent to 300 million units in 2024. Meanwhile, global shipments are set to rise by 5.9 percent to 1.3 billion units.

Three years into the global pandemic, several Chinese phone retailers returned to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, this year to launch new products. This could draw wide consumer attention and help the global phone market recover, according to Guo Tianxiang, senior analyst of IDC China.

Last year, smartphone shipments in China fell by 13.2 percent from 2021 due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, marking the biggest annual decline ever and the first time shipments stood below 300 million in the past decade, according to IDC. 

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi