New Delhi, Jul 27 (IANS): China's smartphone sales hit a fresh low in the April-June quarter (down 14.2 per cent) to reach less than half of the sales of the historical peak in the fourth quarter of 2016, a new report has shown.

The last time the sales were lower than this point was nearly a decade ago in Q4 2012, when the iPhone 5 was introduced.

With a 19.8 per cent share, Vivo retained its first place in Q2, followed by Honor (18.3 per cent) and OPPO (17.9 per cent), according to Counterpoint Research.

The quarter's volumes were 12.6 per cent lower than the level seen during the severe pandemic-hit Q1 2020.

"During this period, major cities across China, including financial and manufacturing hub Pan-Shanghai, went through full or partial lockdowns. The hardest hit was the services sector, which fell into contraction territory, from 4 per cent YoY growth in the first quarter to 0.4 per cent in the second quarter," said senior analyst Ivan Lam.

"Weak consumer sentiment combined with the high smartphone penetration rate in China resulted in poor Q2 performance of smartphone sales," Lam added.

During the quarter, vivo maintained its leadership.

"The mid-to-high-end S12 series helped vivo grab a good share in the $250-$399 segment. Sub-brand iQOO also received positive market feedback, especially from younger customers," said research analyst Mengmeng Zhang.

Honor continues its great comeback by expanding its offline presence.

"Honor managed to take share from all the leading Chinese brands, including Huawei, during the quarter. It is time for OPPO and vivo to take Honor seriously," Zhang added.

Apple still saw a comparatively good performance thanks to the shining sales of the iPhone 13 series in Q2.

Despite the discouraging performance in Q2, major Chinese OEMs continued efforts to strengthen their positions in the high-end segment, the report noted.