Yesterday, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) released its January 2026 Domestic Mobile Phone Market Operation Analysis Report.
Data showed that in January 2026, mobile phone shipments in the domestic market reached 22.866 million units, down 16.1% year on year. Among them, 5G mobile phones totaled 19.870 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 15.9%, accounting for 86.9% of total mobile phone shipments in the same period.
In terms of newly launched models, 37 new mobile phone models were released in January, up 2.8% year on year. Of these, 20 were 5G models, down 4.8% year on year, making up 54.1% of all newly launched handsets.
Regarding brand origin, domestic brands shipped 20.074 million units in January, falling 12.1% year on year and accounting for 87.8% of total shipments. Domestic brands launched 33 new models, down 5.7% year on year, representing 89.2% of all new models.
For smartphones alone, shipments reached 20.696 million units in January, down 15.6% year on year, accounting for 90.5% of total mobile phone shipments. A total of 32 new smartphone models were launched, surging 28.0% year on year, making up 86.5% of all new models.