China's mobile phone shipments surge in April

China's mobile phone shipments reversed the downtrend over the past five consecutive months, surging 6.7 percent year-on-year in April and amounting to 36.53 million units, data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed on Thursday.

The output of 4G-enabled cellphones was 34.85 million units in the same period, an increase of 6.6 percent from a year earlier. It comprised 95.4 percent of all mobile phone shipments in the country, compared with 1.67 million units for 2G phones and 12,000 units for 3G phones, said a report released by the CAICT, a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Forty-two new models were issued in April, with 35 enabled for 4G networks and seven for 2G, according to the report, as the figure dropped 23.6 percent from a year ago.

Domestic brands took the lion's share in the mobile phone market, accounting for 92.9 percent of the total shipments in April. Their total output reached 33.93 million units, with 7.2 percent growth, said the report, while their number of new models unveiled last month was 35, down 32.7 percent and still contributing 83.3 percent of the total.

Meanwhile, the total shipment of mobile phones in the domestic market was 113 million units in the first four months, dipping 6.7 percent year-on-year. Of them, 95.3 percent were 4G-enabled phones, totaling 108 million units, a decrease of 5.6 percent.

Altogether, 167 new models have been launched into the market from Jan-April, declining 36 percent from a year ago, the report said.