Mobile handset sales to fall up to 15% this quarter: report

Mobile handset sales are likely to fall by 8-15 per cent his quarter due to the impact of coronavirus on the supply chain. Sales are likely to dip by up to 30 per cent in the quarter ending June, which is when the full impact of the outbreak is likely to show up.

Market intelligence firm TechArc has predicted a fall of 25-30 per cent on-quarter decline in the mobile handset sales in April-June quarter, as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times. The firm also predicted that stocking up of inventory is not likely to happen at the desired rate due to the supply chain issue. International Data Corporation (IDC) has also lowered the shipment estimates for the current quarter, as mentioned in the report.

While CyberMedia Research (CMR) has predicted a potential decline of 8-10 per cent in the first quarter, Counterpoint Research has estimated an overall dip of 15 per cent. CMR has also predicted a sharper impact in the second quarter for the smartphone market.

Also read: Shortage of smartphones due to coronavirus? Xiaomi, Realme, Apple face supply constraint

CMR also estimated that both smartphone and feature phone shipments grew in January but remained flat on February. The report mentioned that analysts predict sales of 31-32 million phones in the first quarter, indicating a flat growth on year.

Smartphone brands such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo and Vivo assemble the devices in the country. However, they are dependent on China for mobile phone parts including battery, memory board, printed circuit board and display. As per reports, Apple is one of the worst sufferers due to shortage of component supply. Apple's newer models such as iPhoneXR and iPhone 11 are entirely shipped from China.

Also read: Coronavirus impact: So far so good for smartphone industry

Also read: Coronavirus impact: Apple iPhone sales tumble in China in February