SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Shipments of smartphones within China fell 9.9% year on year to 23.1 million handsets in August, the China Academy of Information and Communications (CAICT) reported on Wednesday.
The figures follow a large fall in July and a broader slump in the first half of the year.
Shipment numbers were down from 25.6 million in August 2020 and 27.8 million in July 2021, according to the CAICT, a state-backed think tank.
Handset brands are currently experiencing production issues due to a global computer chip shortage.
A combination of factors including demand miscalculation, unexpected factory shutdowns and U.S.-China tensions have prompted a number of automobile companies to report chip sourcing issues.
That shortage has since spread to many types of chips and all kinds of hardware, including smartphones.
Delayed upgrades from consumers are also causing sales to slow.
(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; editing by Jason Neely)
