With the coronavirus pandemic bringing manufacturing and sale operations to a halt worldwide, it was anticipated that the global smartphone industry will witness a sharp decline. But as per IDC’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker data, the global smartphone shipments dropped by 11.7% on a YoY basis in Q1 2020, which is the largest annual decline ever.
IDC estimates that a total of 275.8 million smartphones were shipped during Q1 2020. Canalys, on the other hand, notes that smartphone shipments fell by 13% and stood slightly higher at 272 million in 2020’s first quarter. Samsung led the shipment figures in Q1 2020, followed by HUAWEI and Apple.
However, things are not going to improve significantly in the second quarter as well, as many analysts and industry watchdogs predict that the worst is yet to come. Canalys Senior Analyst Ben Stanton noted that “most smartphone companies expect Q2 to represent the peak of the coronavirus’ impact.”
Image: IDC
Image: Canalys