According to China government data, factory output of smartphones was 17% up in April compared to April 2019.

While production appears to be back on track, the unknown for smartphone manufacturers is whether demand is there to absorb the production.

40.8 million handsets were shipped in April, up from 34.8 million in April 2019, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).

Unusually, CAICT did not reveal the Android/iOS split. This could be because iPhone is doing well in the China market, eclipsing domestic brands with a 21% spike in sales in March.

Apple’s €400 SE phone is expected to provide stiff competition to Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and the other Chinese phones.

Apple is also said to be planning to move  20% of its China iPhone production to India.