China's smartphone prices, quality to go up

The overall growth of China's smartphone market will slow down this year, with product updates being a core driving force, said a report released by research firm GfK.

GfK estimated that with the depreciation of the yuan and rising cost of components, competition in the smartphone market will become more intense.

Meanwhile, the growth rate of sales revenue of smartphones will be higher than that of sales volume, with the average price of a smartphone rising this year.

The sales volume of smartphones is expected to reach 493 million units in 2017, with revenue of 980 billion yuan ($142.4 billion), according to GfK.

Smartphone manufacturers such as Oppo Electronics Corp and Vivo Mobile Communication Technology will join hands with e-commerce giants to gain more market share in first-tier cities.