Previous reports from research firms indicated that Apple's device shipments declined "in the low single digits" in the first quarter of the year but a report in from China says that smartphone shipments were up 17 percent in April compared to this time last year, pointing to a possible recovery of the market following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The figures would include Apple, but since we know its figures are low it means that Android is recovering much better than iOS.

As Reuters reports, smartphone shipments from China's factories to vendors rose 17 percent in April compared to the same month a year ago, according to government data released on Tuesday.

The numbers suggest an early domestic rebound for smartphone makers such as Apple and Huawei Technologies and a potential return to normalcy in China for the broader consumer hardware market in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak.

The report states that some 40.8 million handsets were shipped in April, up from 34.8 million in the same month last year. The figures come from the state-backed China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Sadly, the group did not reveal the percentage of Android phones shipped, which can also indicate the number of iPhones sold in China. 

According to the report, Huawei managed to ride out the coronavirus storm, seeing its shipments remain flat during the quarter. Other Android vendors including Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi "bore the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak", with research groups stated that shipment volumes decreased by double-digit percentages for those particular vendors.