The smartphone industry recorded its worst Q2 performance with worldwide smartphone shipments dropping by 16 percent year over year (YoY) in 2020.
According to mobile phone tracker, International Data Corporation (IDC), the Indian smartphone market took a 50.6 percent drop in the second quarter of 2020 with 18.4 million shipments in Q2 2020 compared to 36.8 million units at the same time last year.
The nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic is one of the biggest reasons for this slowdown. However, IDC expects the market to show signs of recovery in the second half of 2020.
Q2 Was Disappointing For All
Despite registering a 48.7 percent YoY drop in Q2 (April-June), Xiaomi was leading its competitors in Q2 with a 29.4 percent market share. The Chinese tech giant shipped 54 lakh units in this quarter helping it retain the top spot in India.
Samsung sits at the second spot in India with a 26.3 percent market share in Q2, as per IDC. The South Korean smartphone-maker saw a 48.5 percent YoY drop with 48 lakh shipments.
However, as of 30 June 2020, Samsung led the overall Indian smartphone market with a 24 percent share leaving Xiaomi behind.
Other Chinese smartphone-makers like Vivo, Realme and Oppo came in 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively, but all three saw steep declines in the shipment numbers for the second quarter of 2020.
Oppo faced the steepest drop in YoY performance with a 51 percent decline in smartphone shipments in Q2. This can be attributed to the fact that its manufacturing unit in Noida halted operations due to COVID-19 regulations, causing severe inventory issues for the company.
Apple continues to be a dominant player in the premium segment with a 48.8 percent market share.
The Cupertino-based company is followed by Samsung and OnePlus. This success can be attributed to the overwhelming response to the iPhone 11 and the iPhone XR which were two of the best-selling smartphones in this segment.
What About Smartphone Prices?
The market price of smartphones hasn’t been affected by this slump as per IDC. The average selling price in Q2 of 2020 remained at $161 (Rs 12,000 approx).
The sub-Rs 15,000 category has swollen due to consumer sentiment shifting more towards budget-friendly devices with an 84 percent growth.
The sub-$100 (Rs 7,500 approx) category also rose from 20 to 29 percent this year in Q2.
In terms of online vs offline, online sales in India registered a market share of 44.8 percent in Q2 while offline channels were ahead with 55 percent of the share.
“Many offline channel partners adopted new ways of marketing by reaching out to consumers through social media platforms, WhatsApp, references, etc., for doorstep demos and deliveries, as well as accepting contactless payments,”Upasana Joshi, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.
Huawei Tops The Charts Globally
The anti-China sentiment might be making in-roads in countries across the globe but that hardly seems to have affected Chinese smartphone-maker Huawei which is now the number 1 smartphone brand in the world, according to IDC.
For the first time ever, Huawei reached the number 1 spot with 55.8 million smartphones shipped in Q2 of 2020 despite a small decline of 5.1 percent YoY. In a struggling market, Huawei achieved its highest-ever global market share of 20 percent due to its growth in China.
As per IDC, looking forward, the impact of the US technology ban will continue to create uncertainty for Huawei in foreign markets.
In total, companies shipped 278.4 million smartphones during Q2 2020 which is a 16 percent decline compared to the 331 million units shipped last year during the same time.
“The closure of retail stores, especially in regions where online shopping is less common, compounded the negative effect on smartphone sales. In addition, consumers spent significantly on other technologies, such as PCs, monitors, and tablets, to facilitate mandatory work from home and distance learning, leaving an even smaller share in the shrinking consumer wallet for smartphones.”Nabila Popal, Research Director, IDC
Apple remains in the third position in this quarter with a 13.5% share of the market. The company bettered its 2019 Q2 performance thanks to the success of the iPhone 11 and the newly launched budget-friendly iPhone SE and is the only company to show better results than last year.
Experts are saying that the smartphone market is expected to be back to normal in the second half of 2020 with an expected increase in demand during the festive season and holidays.
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