The 2019-nCoV aka Chinese coronavirus outbreak has severely affected the business of Chinese companies as well as those abroad. 361 people have died so far and over 17,000 people have been infected in China. While the Chinese government is actively trying to combat the spread of the virus in the country, stores, restaurants, and other businesses are either closed or operating in limited capacity over the past few days. Unsurprisingly this will affect the smartphone shipments in the first couple of quarters of 2020. And according to a recent report from Strategy Analytics, the Chinese smartphone shipments in Q1 2020 could decline by a staggering 30%.
The Strategy Analytics report points out that the coronavirus will slow down the GDP growth and consumer spending in China. This, in turn, will affect the smartphone market in the country in the first half of 2020. The report highlights that global smartphone shipments will likely drop by 2% due to the coronavirus epidemic. The Chinese smartphone shipments in 2020 are expected to drop by 5%. However, the biggest impact will be in the first quarter where the shipments are expected to drop by 30%.
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The report further notes that China manufactures nearly 70% of the world’s smartphones. Therefore, delay in the factory operations due to the extended New Year holidays and travel restrictions and quarantine will adversely affect the global supply and manufacturing. We are already seeing the first signs of a supply shortage due to this epidemic – Asus ROG 2 is in short supply in India right now.
The report further adds that the impact of coronavirus on smartphone shipments in China could be worse if it’s not controlled in the next couple of months.
The coronavirus epidemic in China has also affected smartphone launch events. We still haven’t heard anything about the Xiaomi Mi 10 launch, which was earlier expected before February 11 in China. In fact, new reports claim that the Mi 10 flagship and the new Black Shark gaming smartphone could get an online release in the country. This makes sense given how the Chinese government is discouraging companies from organizing events during this period. Even Huawei postponed its developer conference in China last week from February 11 to March 27. Accessories for the Galaxy S20 lineup are also expected to be delayed.
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