Market research company IDC (IDC) said today, Sunday, that sales of smartphones manufactured in China fell by 13% year-on-year in 2022, the largest decline for the sector in a decade.

The total number of devices shipped last year was 286 million, after it was 329 million devices in 2021;

This means that the total sales volume of 2022 was the lowest since 2013, the first time that annual sales have fallen below 300 million in 10 years, according to the IDC report.

Android phone maker Vivo was the best-selling brand throughout the year, with a market share of 18.6%.

However, its total shipments fell 25.1% year-on-year.

Honor was the second best-selling brand, with shipments growing by more than 34%, albeit from a low base.

Apple was the third best-selling brand for phones in 2022, tied in sales with Oppo.

Apple's overall sales fell 4.4% year-on-year;

Although it widely outperformed the market's decline in the fourth quarter, as it was the best-selling brand in the last three months of 2022, year-on-year iPhone sales were still low, as supply chain problems stemming from worker unrest at a factory exacerbated. Foxconn.

And the strict controls to control the spread of Covid-19 in China - which escalated in the spring of 2022 in many cities - affected China's economy, which fell to one of its worst levels in nearly half a century over the past year.

The decline in smartphone sales in China reflects the performance of the sector globally.

In 2022, global smartphone shipments reached 1.2 billion, the lowest level since 2013, and an annual decline of more than 11%, according to the report.