So, are you thinking the cause is that 21 million died, or that the facial recognition requirement, followed by the health coding requirement may have caused so many phone to go dark?
Both....
According to the article cell phones are an absolute necessity for living Chinese citizens. Dead ones, not so much.
Add to that a long-rumored economic downturn in China.
Yours was my first thought on reading this. New requirements that tie a person closer to their cell phone means many who have multiple phones would see the additional phones as a liability.