CHINA's smartphone vendors saw an end to three consecutive months of shipment contraction in April, as factories and stores reopened amid a relaxation of coronavirus-related restrictions, reported Caixin.

In April, China's smartphone shipments totalled 40.78 million units, representing a year-on-year increase of 17.2 per cent, according to a report released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).

The country's smartphone shipments saw year-on-year declines of 36.6 per cent in January, 54.7 per cent in February and 21.9 per cent in March, previous CAICT data showed.

April's figures showed early signs of a recovery for handset makers, which have been gradually restarting production since March. In the first quarter, Huawei was the only major smartphone seller that saw slight shipment growth in its home market, delivering 30.1 million units compared with 29.9 million units over the same period last year, according to research firm Canalys.