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The global phone market saw its biggest fall in shipments in February 2020

By Cookie Monster - on 21 Mar 2020, 9:56am

The global phone market saw its biggest fall in shipments in February 2020

The Samsung Galaxy S20 lineup.

The Covid-19 outbreak has caused the global smartphone market to experience its sharpest decline ever in shipments. 

The latest data from Strategy Analytics shows that global smartphone shipments fell 38% year-on-year from 99.2 million units in February 2019 to 61.8 million units in February 2020. This is the biggest fall ever in the history of the worldwide smartphone market. 

The supply and demand of smartphones fell drastically in China, across Asia and slowed down in the rest of the world according to Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics. Asian factories were unable to manufacture smartphones while consumers were unable or not willing to visit retail stores to buy new phones.

Apple and Samsung, which makes some of the world's most popular smartphones, are affected badly by the Covid-19 outbreak. 

Apple closed its offices and stores in China in February due to the coronavirus situation. It is also confirmed to not meet its March revenue guidance as worldwide iPhone supply is temporarily constrained. While it has reopened all retail stores in China, Apple closed all retail stores outside of China indefinitely.

Samsung's latest smartphone series, the Galaxy S20 models, are reportedly not selling as well as the company has expected. Sales were said to be 50% lower than the Galaxy S10 and Note10 lineup in Korea, and industry sources in Korea claim that the Galaxy S20 may not sell as well as the Galaxy S10.

Strategy Analytics expects global smartphone shipments to remain weak this month as more countries go on lockdown due to the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus. The research firm recommends smartphone makers to host online flash sales or huge discounts on bundles with smartwatches to increase sales in the coming weeks.

Source: Strategy Analytics 

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