Despite slowing domestic demand, China-based vendors’ global smartphone shipments jumped 33 per cent in Q1 to nearly 129 million units, according to DigiTimes Research.

Chinese vendors’ overseas shipments expanded 27 per cent to 45.6 million smartphones. Huawei was number one, shipping 25.7 million smartphones and accounting for 25 per cent of Q1 exports. It was followed by Oppo with 15 million, BBK 12.5 million, Xiaomi 9.2 million, TCL eight million, ZTE 6.2 million, Coolpad six million, Gionee 5.9 million, Lenovo 5.4 million and Meizu 3.8 million units, DigiTimes reported.

TCL had a 14.5 per cent share of exports, while Lenovo had a 9.2 per cent share, ZTE 9 per cent, Oppo 6.4 per cent, Gionee 3.3 per cent and Xiaomi 2.6 per cent.

Smartphone shipments in China continued their downward trend in Q1, falling 5 per cent from a year ago to 104.9 million, as increasing market saturation and the slowing domestic economy curbed demand. Without China helping to drive growth, the global smartphone market decreased 3 per cent in Q1 to 335 million units, according to Strategy Analytics.