Smartphone Sales Declined 20 Percent in 1Q20 Due to COVID-19 Impact

Global sales of smartphones to end users declined 20.2% in the first quarter of 2020, according to Gartner. The  COVID-19 pandemic led to demand for smartphones collapsing as consumers stopped spending on nonessential products during the first quarter.

“The coronavirus pandemic caused the global smartphone market to experience its worst decline ever,“ said Anshul Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner. “Most of the leading Chinese manufacturers and Apple were severely impacted by the temporary closures of their factories in China and reduced consumer spending due to the global shelter-in-place.“

All of the top five smartphone vendors recorded a decline in the first quarter of 2020, except for Xiaomi. Strong sales of Redmi devices in international markets and aggressive online channel focus led Xiaomi to achieve better than expected sales. Although Samsung’s smartphone sales declined 22.7% in the first quarter of 2020, the company still maintained the No. 1 spot with 18.5% market share.

Worldwide Smartphone Sales in 1Q20 (Thousands of Units)

Samsung built more inventory in the channel in preparation of new smartphone launches but its inefficient online channel combined with the lockdown led to much weaker sales to end users than into the channel. Huawei recorded the worst performance among the top five global smartphone vendors. Sales of smartphones fell to 42.5 million units, a decline of 27.3% year over year. Even with its first ever decline in smartphone sales, Huawei held on to the No. 2 position with 14.2% market share.

While Apple is not as dependent on China as Huawei, Oppo or Vivo are, it faced supply constraints and store closures which negatively impacted iPhone sales. However, the impact of the pandemic was less significant than for the other top vendors. Apple’s iPhone sales declined 8.2%, totaling 41 million units in the first quarter of 2020.

Oppo’s smartphone sales fell 19.1%. Its offline distribution, which is one of its strengths, suffered as the work from home trend forced consumers and businesses to purchase products online. To grow its sales and market share, it is paramount that Oppo strengthens its online channel.