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Global smartphone sales plummeted in the first three months of 2020 due to the epidemic.
According to market research firm Canalys, the number of smartphones sold fell 13 percent to 272 million in the first quarter of the previous year. At first glance, this decline doesn’t seem tragic, but analysts say the problem is big because everyone expected a recovery this year thanks to the arrival of 5G-capable devices.
Samsung still ranks first, despite the Korean giant being forced to post a 17 percent decrease with 60 million units sold. The second is Huawei, which has been hit by U.S. sanctions, with 49 million mobile phones shipped, a drop of 17 percent. Apple, still parading in the fourth quarter of 2019, fell again to the third with 37 million phones sold.
Only two manufacturers shot up during the period: Xiaomi has a 9 percent increase and 30 million mobile phones sold, while the 24 million smartphones delivered by Vivo represent a 3 percent increase.
Canalys chief analyst Ben Stanton said the market has now drifted away from smartphone makers, which could lead to redundancies and high levels of uncertainty.
In February, when coronavir took its biggest hit with China, manufacturers were primarily concerned with how they could make enough smartphones to meet global demand.
In March, however, the situation changed radically: smartphone production rebounded, but in half the world, strict restrictions were introduced, and sales plummeted.
Shengtao Jin, an analyst at Canalys, confirmed that most smartphone manufacturers could not withdraw from the impact of the epidemic. Samsung has benefited from the fact that its manufacturing operations are primarily in Korea and Vietnam. Apple was the least vulnerable to the pandemic, with much of the iPhone 11 sold out earlier in the quarter.
Huawei has been affected not only by the epidemic, but also by restrictive US measures. USA That have been in place for almost a year. As a result, the company’s sales outside of China fell 35 percent in the first quarter.
As for the second trimester, researchers say the situation will get worse before it improves. This period will challenge the industry, and some companies, especially offline retailers, could find themselves in a very difficult position without government support. And as restrictions are gradually reduced worldwide, we will have an increasingly complete picture of the economic damage caused by a pandemic.
