Global Smartphone Shipments Plummet Below 300Mn

The global smartphone market declined the fastest ever, -13% YoY, during the quarter
New Delhi, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Seoul, San Diego, London, Buenos Aires — April 30th, 2020 5G smartphone shipment share increased to 8% in Q1 2020 from 1% in Q4 2019
Xiaomi (7%) YoY, and realme (157% YoY) were the only major brands to achieve growth
Apple remained resilient even during the COVID-19 as iPhone shipments declined only 5% YoY Q1 2020

The global smartphone market declined its fastest ever, down 13% YoY in Q1 2020, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service. This is the first time since Q1 2014, that the smartphone market has fallen below 300Mn units in a quarter. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the signs of any recovery that the market started showing in Q4 2019.

The first quarter decline was mainly driven by a 27% YoY shipment decline in China, the initial epicenter of the pandemic. Some of the decline was offset by sales shifting to online channels. Overall, the market share of China in the global smartphone market, in Q1 2020 reduced to 22% from 26% a year ago. The disruption in China also impacted the supply side of handsets and components for some OEMs, which in turn, affected global shipments. In the long run, this could lead to OEMs diversifying their supply chain across regions. This could be a silver lining for countries like India and Vietnam.

By the end of the quarter, as COVID-19 started to spread to other regions, and lockdowns of varying severity were imposed, the pendulum of disruption started to swing from supply to demand…Read more

Originally published at https://www.counterpointresearch.com on April 30, 2020.