The second quarter will become a “dark moment” for global smartphone manufacturers.
Data released by IDC yesterday shows that the global smartphone market shipments are expected to decline by 11.9% to 1.2 billion units in 2020 due to the impact of new coronary pneumonia on the macro economy Consumer spending will continue to be affected, and smartphone shipments are expected to decline by 18.2% in the first half of this year, and global smartphone shipments are expected to resume growth by the first quarter of 2021.
Sangeetika Srivastava, senior analyst at IDC, said: “The initial supply chain crisis has evolved into a global demand issue. Consumers have begun to refocus their spending on essentials, which has directly affected the popularity of smartphones in the short term.
Sangeetika Srivastava also said that on the optimistic side, 5G is expected to become a catalyst for the recovery of the smartphone market and will play an important role in the global smartphone market recovery in 2021.
Image source: IDC
By region, IDC expects that the Chinese smartphone market will only experience a single-digit decline in 2020. In contrast, the new coronary pneumonia has caused a heavy blow to Europe, especially Italy, Spain and other countries that have been severely affected, will have double-digit declines.
Combined with IDC’s global smartphone market shipment forecast for the first half of the year and the previously published global shipment data for the first quarter, it was found that in the second quarter of 2020, IDC forecast global smartphone shipments to be approximately 250 million Taiwan, the lowest in a single quarter since 2017, a year-on-year decrease of about 24.7%.
In comparison, global smartphone shipments in the first quarter were 276 million units, down 11.3% year-on-year. Although the second quarter has not passed yet, it is almost certain that this will be the “darkest moment” of the global smartphone market.
For listed companies such as Xiaomi and Apple, the expected impact of the global epidemic has been reflected in the stock price during the most severe period of the global epidemic in March and April.Apple , Xiaomi’s recent stock price lows appeared around March 20. At that time, JPMorgan Chase also adjusted the rating of Xiaomi stock based on the impact of the outbreak in overseas markets.
At present, with the global epidemic situationThe impact gradually subsided, the capital market rose, and the stock prices of Xiaomi and Apple have both increased significantly, but before the second quarter results are officially announced, they may still add uncertainty to the recovering stock price.