BEIJING -- Smartphone sales in China fell 14.1 percent year on year to 74.2 million units in the first quarter of 2022, showed data from the global market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

The firm has attributed the weak market to continued resurgences of COVID-19, which have weighed on consumption, and the lack of product upgrades.

Chinese smartphone market faces a downside risk of shipping fewer than 300 million smartphones for the whole of 2022 if the market continues to see an absence of a fresh stimulus, said the IDC.

Domestic smartphone maker Oppo took the lead with a market shipment of 13.7 million units in the January-March period, taking up 18.5 percent of the market share, while Honor followed with 13.5 million units. Vivo came in third with 17.9 percent of the market in the period, the data showed.

Apple, which was China's top-selling vendor in the previous quarter, was the fourth-largest seller in the first three months with the shipment reaching 12.4 million units, claiming 16.7 percent of the market, according to IDC.