Counterpoint: China's smartphone sales reached 29 million units in January 2025, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%

Recently, market research firm Counterpoint released a report saying that in order to better take advantage of the wave of phone replacement brought about by subsidies, mobile phone manufacturers and distributors actively lowered the retail prices of some selected models, making this year's Spring Festival a more attractive sales season for consumers. Data shows that in January, the sales volume of China's smartphone market was close to 29 million units, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%. Huawei, vivo and Xiaomi ranked the top three, together accounting for nearly 53.8% of the total sales. In terms of price range, the sales growth in the market in the range of 2,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan was more significant. Counterpoint said that in 2025, the "national subsidy" policy has stimulated the vitality of China's smartphone market. From January 20 to January 26, China's smartphone sales increased by nearly 65% year-on-year to more than 9.5 million units, indicating that Chinese consumers have made a good initial response to the subsidy policy.

It is understood that on January 20 this year, national subsidies for digital products such as mobile phones and tablets were launched in various parts of the country.

According to the policy, individual consumers who purchase three types of digital products, namely mobile phones, tablets, and smart watches (bracelets), with a single sales price not exceeding 6,000 yuan, can enjoy new purchase subsidies.

Each person can subsidize one item per category, and the subsidy ratio for each item is 15% of the final sales price after deducting all discounts in the production, circulation links and mobile operators, and the maximum subsidy per item shall not exceed RMB 500.

The Ministry of Commerce's national data platform for home appliance trade-in and new purchases of digital products such as mobile phones shows that from 0:00 on January 20 to 24:00 on February 8, 20.092 million consumers applied for subsidies for the purchase of 25.414 million mobile phones and other digital products.

According to media reports, Pan Helin, a member of the Information and Communications Economics Expert Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that since the national subsidies are subject to price limits, consumers will definitely look for mobile phone products that best meet their performance requirements and have the best cost-effectiveness within the national subsidy areas. This will to a certain extent suppress the sales of mobile phone products priced above 6,000 yuan, and the market competition landscape of mobile phone brands may change as a result.

For consumers, he suggested that they can actively participate in national subsidies and maximize the policy benefits. The key is to grab the bonus benefits. Of course, choosing a mobile phone that is close to the 6,000 yuan threshold and can enjoy the maximum national subsidy bonus is the best choice.

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