04 May 2020
Smartphone sales hampered by pandemic, research found
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a growing impact on the global economy, with the effects of the virus eroding gains in the global smartphone market, according to new research.
Global lockdowns have led to a huge economic bump in almost all sectors and TrendForce found that global production in the first quarter of 2020 (1Q20) fell by 10% year-on-year (YOY) to around 280 million units, the lowest in five years, due to pandemic-induced disruptions across the supply chain.
While it sais there are now improvements to the supply chain and work resumption at manufacturing and assembly lines, the pandemic is making its effects felt on the demand side of the smartphone market by tanking major economies worldwide.
“Global production for 2Q20 is now estimated to register another YOY drop of 16.5% to 287 million units, the largest decline on record for a given quarter. TrendForce forecasts total yearly production volume of 1.24 billion units, an 11.3% decrease YOY,” the report said.
According to TrendForce, Vivo is the only brand among the top six to show growth in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, it said Samsung will experience constrained growth this year even without the emergence of COVID-19.
