Worldwide Smartphone Sales Struck

It is well known that people have priorities in life and in times of crisis, those priorities become more evident. Buying a smartphone seems not to be one of them as global smartphone sales tumbled 14 percent in February as COVID-19 spread in China and overseas, Counterpoint Research said on a report released this week.

In February, COVID-19 forced Apple to close its stores in China. According to government information, the American company sold less than 500,000 smartphones in the Chinese market during that month. The country, which saw sales drop 38 percent in February from a year earlier, is now showing signs of recovery with many stores re-opening in mid-March. But the rest of the world is just beginning to see the consequences of a lockdown on their capital. 

Tipping Point?

Meanwhile, last Thursday, the administration of President Donald Trump agreed to new measures to restrict the global supply of chips to Huawei, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In 2019, Huawei sold around 240 million smartphones compared to Apple's 197 million. This meant that Huawei overtook Apple as the second-largest smartphone maker in the world. This year, we will have to wait to see if COVID-19 lets the Chinese company continue its impressive run. 

“This is going to have a far more negative impact on US companies than it will on Huawei because the latter will develop its own supply chain,” trade lawyer Doug Jacobson said. “Ultimately, Huawei will find alternatives.”

At the same time the US government took measures, Huawei unveiled its new flagship photography-focused P40 smartphones on Wednesday in an online presentation. Richard Yu, Chief Executive of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, showed three smartphones in an online broadcast: the P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro+, which have a triple, quad and penta-camera configuration and an “overflow” display that curves over all four edges of the devices. Meanwhile, Apple is considering delaying the launch of its next iPhone by months, according to a report on the Nikkei Asian Review.