After years of booming sales, China's smartphone market is showing signs of saturation¹.

经过多年销量的高速增长，中国的智能手机市场已显露出饱和的迹象。

A recent report, released by market consulting company GfK, shows that growth in the market slowed in the first half of this year.

市场咨询公司GfK近日发布的一份报告显示，今年上半年国内智能手机市场增速放缓。

In the first half of this year, the sales by volume of smartphones reached 232 million units, a year-on-year increase of only 0.4%, the company said.

该公司称，在今年上半年，智能手机销量达2.32亿部，同比仅增长0.4%。

According to the report, the sales volume is expected to perk² up slightly in the next half year and the overall figure will hit 482 million units this year, up 2.5% compared with last year.

该报告称，下半年智能手机销量有望小幅抬升，全年总销量将达到4.82亿部，同比增长2.5%。

China, which is still the largest smartphone market in the world and often perceived as an emerging market, now is actually similar to other mature markets in Europe and North America, experts said.

专家称，中国仍是世界最大的智能手机市场，常被视作新兴市场，实际上目前已与欧洲、北美等其他成熟市场无异。

Jia Mo, a research analyst³ at global consultancy Canalys, said the domestic smartphone market is becoming increasingly saturated⁴ and driven mostly by replacement⁵ users.

全球咨询公司Canalys研究分析师贾莫称，国内智能手机市场正日趋饱和，主要依靠换机用户拉动增长。