Xiaomi, the popular smartphone manufacturer, has stated that it expects a short term fall in its smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2020. The primary reason for this is the recent Coronavirus pandemic that has affected the world but is also expecting the demand to soon pick up.
According to Lei Jun, Founder and CEO of Xiaomi, “While the entire world is still under the dark shadows of COVID-19, we have maintained our keen focus on efficiency to tide over this economic ‘black swan’ with everyone.” In other words, despite having to also shut down its factory and production lines temporarily, the company is almost back up to its full capacity.
For those unaware, the Chinese government had initially taken steps to curb the further spreading of the viral outbreak. This was mainly done by shutting down manufacturing sites and other places with a large number of workers. As of right now, Xiaomi has indicated that 80 to 90 percent of its production capacity in China has been revitalized, according to senior executives in a conference call.
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Wang Xiang, the President of Xiaomi, also mentioned that “production was affected, but the pace of recovery has exceeded expectations.” Wang said that the effects of the COVID-19 have been lesser on the Chinese tech giant over its other rivals in major smartphone markets like India, Europe, and the US. Just last week, Xiaomi opened more than 1,800 retail stores in China, with 80 percent of its suppliers also have resumed operations.
Xiaomi is among many OEMs that had to suspend its production in India, after the local government issued a 21 day countrywide lockdown. Analysts are expecting smartphone shipments to fall during this time by about 50 percent, in comparison to Q1 of 2019. However, the overall Indian smartphone market may see a 4.2 percent decline this year in the worst case scenario.
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(Via)
