China's smartphone shipments for the second half of the year fell 4.3% year on year to 66 million units as prices increased, according to Tuesday data from research firm IDC.
The number of smartphone shipments declined for the fifth consecutive quarter.
The research firm said consumers were hesitant to upgrade their units as vendors raised their prices or trimmed configurations due to the increase in memory and core component costs starting from late March. The lift from government subsidies also faded.
Among brands, Huawei led the local market share in the second quarter, owning 22.6% of the market share and its shipments growing 19.4% year on year. Apple followed suit, owning 18.1% of the domestic market share, and its shipments climbing 24.4% from a year earlier.
However, both brands kept their prices steady while their competitors increased their prices, according to the IDC.
"That gave hesitant buyers a reason to go ahead and purchase in a quarter when most of the market was giving them a reason to wait," Arthur Guo, research analyst at IDC China's client devices research, said.