Since February this year, the consumer electronics industry index has risen by 11.70%. In 2024, the shipment volume of domestic mobile phones reached 314 million units, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%. Nearly 60% of the global foldable screen mobile phone shipments came from Chinese manufacturers… According to the latest data released by institutions such as the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and the global market research firm Omdia, with the continuous release of policy and technological dividends, the demand in the consumer electronics market has continued to recover, and the prosperity of the industrial chain has been continuously on the rise.
An official in charge of the Electronic Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in an exclusive interview with reporters that against the backdrop of the overall stable operation of China’s consumer electronics industry chain and supply chain, the mild recovery of global market demand, and the policy support from the central and local governments, China continues to consolidate its position as the world’s largest producer of consumer electronic products. Next, China’s consumer electronics industry is expected to seize opportunities brought by industrial upgrades such as the new generation of artificial intelligence, accelerate the application and implementation of new technologies and products, continuously enhance the resilience and security of the industrial chain and supply chain, and further consolidate the positive trend of the industry.
The newly added purchase subsidy for digital products such as mobile phones and tablets is a major highlight of the expansion of this year’s “two new” policies. Data shows that during the Spring Festival period alone (from January 28 to February 4, 2025), the national mobile phone sales revenue increased significantly by about 182% year-on-year, and the sales volume of digital products exceeded 4.5 million units, accounting for 45% of the total sales revenue of the “old-for-new” replacement program for consumer goods. The vitality of the consumer market has been effectively enhanced, driving the upstream supply chain to create new increments and promoting business growth in related fields. Taking mobile phones as an example, information from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that by the end of 2023, the number of mobile phone users in China had reached 1.727 billion. If 10% of these users participate in the mobile phone purchase subsidy activity, a market scale of hundreds of billions of yuan for phone replacement will be generated.
During the interview, many upstream and downstream enterprises in the consumer electronics industry chain were found to be making good use of the opportunities brought by the “two new” policies to accelerate product quality improvement and upgrading. The Changhong Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park in Mianyang, Sichuan currently has an annual production capacity of 6 million units, and the production and delivery cycle has been shortened by more than 50% compared with the previous period. Zhu Xuewen, head of the marketing headquarters of Changhong·MELCO in China, said that the “old-for-new” policy in 2025 will promote the accelerated transformation of the consumer electronics market towards high-end, intelligent and green development. The enterprise is making continuous efforts in R & D, channel integration and user operation through full-chain green layout, government-enterprise collaborative subsidies and technological upgrading to seize the new round of market dividends.
“Driven by the ‘national subsidy’ and ‘old-for-new’ policies, we also clearly feel consumers’ higher requirements for product performance, quality and innovative functions,” said Hu Boshan, executive vice president and chief operating officer of vivo. The enterprise is further conducting continuous R & D in important fields such as battery life, communication, display and AI, optimizing the product portfolio, and striving to meet the high-quality needs of users in different price segments. This has also driven the continuous recovery of the industry’s prosperity. Classified by the Shenwan secondary industry classification, as of February 20th, a total of 47 consumer electronics listed companies in the A-share market have released their 2024 full-year performance forecasts. Looking at the fourth quarter, among the 47 companies, 24 are expected to see an increase in net profit attributable to shareholders, and among them, 7 are expected to see a year-on-year increase of more than 100% in net profit attributable to shareholders in the fourth quarter. In addition, as of the close on February 20th, the Shenwan secondary consumer electronics industry index has risen by 11.70% since February.
“Consumer electronic products are directly facing market users, with a large output value scale and a strong driving effect on the upstream and midstream industries,” said Ma Beibei, director of the Electronic Manufacturing Laboratory of the Institute of Electronic Information Industry of CCID Research Institute. Driven by the “two new” policies, the willingness of consumers to purchase electronic products has increased, which has played a positive role in increasing the sales volume of complete products such as televisions, computers and mobile phones and promoting product upgrades. It will also drive the market expansion and technological upgrading of related components. At the same time, from the popularity of the foldable screen “track” to the frequent launch of AI mobile phones, from the leading position of wearable devices in the world to the accelerated promotion of intelligent sweeping robots… Consumer electronics enterprises are keeping up with the technological frontier and accelerating the exploration and implementation of new products. Data from global market research firm Omdia and international research firm IDC show that nearly 60% of the global foldable screen mobile phone shipments in 2024 came from Chinese manufacturers; among the top ten players in the global smart sweeping robot market share in the third quarter of 2024, Chinese enterprises accounted for eight, with a cumulative market share of over 60%. In particular, the accelerated upgrade of AI terminals is expected to further release market opportunities for upstream and downstream enterprises. Ma Beibei believes that since the second half of 2024, the implementation process of AI terminals has accelerated. New products released by major mobile phone and computer brands are all equipped with AI large model technology. Recently, AI glasses have also become a market focus. In the future, AI technology is expected to form more application scenarios in areas such as humanoid robots and smart homes.
“High-end mobile phones, foldable screen devices, AI PCs and other products have become new growth points in the market, driving the accelerated iteration of display technology,” said an official from BOE Technology. In the future, the company will further expand its flexible AMOLED production capacity, promote the rapid development of the OLED display industry into the mid-size development stage, accelerate the commercial application of Mini LED backlight technology to meet the growing demand of AI PCs and other devices, and layout the next-generation display technology.
Experts believe that China’s consumer electronics industry chain has long had advantages such as a complete supporting system, strong innovation vitality of backbone enterprises, a large market scale, and the continuous release of policy dividends, which can provide a continuous driving force for China’s technological iteration and upgrading, product innovation and evolution, and in-depth promotion of application empowerment.
Looking ahead, the official in charge of the Electronic Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that China will accelerate the seizure of industrial upgrade opportunities brought by the new generation of artificial intelligence technology, strengthen the R & D of relevant new technologies and products, promote the construction of a new ecosystem, and ensure that China’s consumer electronics field continues to maintain a leading position globally. Actively seize the opportunities of the digital and intelligent transformation of the global economy and society, focus on improving the quality and level of the supply of new and easy-to-use consumer electronic products, tap the potential of online and offline international markets, and build international competitiveness for brands. “At the same time, we will continue to strengthen the whole-industry-chain collaboration, improve the efficiency of resource allocation and utilization, enhance the resilience and security of the industrial chain and supply chain, and provide a solid guarantee for the high-quality and sustainable development of the consumer terminal industry,” the official said.