China smartphone shipments slip 2.4% in 2025 as December demand weakens

China's domestic smartphone shipments fell 2.4% in 2025 to 307 million units, official industry data showed on Friday, pointing to subdued consumer demand in the world's largest handset market.

Shipments in December dropped sharply, down 29.1% from a year earlier to 24.47 million units, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Fifth-generation models accounted for the bulk of sales. December 5G smartphone shipments declined 27.3% year on year to 22.13 million units, making up 90.4% of total shipments for the month.

For the full year, 5G smartphone shipments reached 266 million units, down 1.9% from 2024, and represented 86.9% of total handset shipments, the data showed.