Global smartphone shipments are expected to fall nearly 12 percent year-over-year to 1.2 billion units in 2020 as the novel coronavirus crisis takes its toll on the economy, leading to lower consumer spending, according to a report released Wednesday by market research firm IDC.
The new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic has not only disrupted commercial supply chains, leading to declining financial results for major smartphone makers such as Apple and Samsung, but has also put pressure on consumer spending worldwide.
IDC Senior Research Analyst Sangeetika Sriastava said, "The nationwide shutdown and rising unemployment have depressed consumer confidence, prompting it to reprioritize spending on essential goods, which will have a direct impact on smartphone shipments in the short term."
After the outbreak, Apple was forced to close retail stores in the U.S. and Europe, cut prices on the iPhone 11 in China, and released a new low-priced iPhone SE model in response to plummeting global smartphone demand.
Research firm TrendForce said in April that it expects global smartphone production to fall by a record 16.5 percent year-over-year in the second quarter.
Prior to that, global smartphone production fell 10% in the first quarter. But shipments from Chinese factories to suppliers rose 17 percent year-over-year in April, indicating that domestic demand is initially starting to rebound, and China is the world's largest smartphone market.
IDC expects only a single-digit decline in smartphone shipments in China this year as the country's economy has restarted and factories resume operations.
IDC also expects the upcoming deployment of 5G networks to help smartphone shipments pick up next year, but added that it doesn't expect shipments to resume growth until the first quarter of 2021.
