Sales of smartphones in China tumbled by more than a third last month, Chinese government data showed yesterday, in a sign of how the COVID-19 outbreak is hurting consumer demand.
Mobile phone brands shipped a total of 20.4 million devices, down 36.6 percent from 32.1 million in January last year, data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed.
China’s smartphone market has been shrinking for a number of years, as demand became more reliant on consumers replacing handsets than buying new ones.
Photo: Andy Wong, AP
However, last month’s drop was far larger than was seen in the same month last year, when sales fell 11.4 percent.
The bulk of the drop stems from Android brands, which collectively saw shipments decline from 29.9 million units in January last year to 18.1 million last month.
Shipments of Apple Inc’s devices held steady at just more than 2 million units.
The declines were largely in line with analysts’ forecasts. Research firms International Data Corp and Canalys earlier this month forecast that shipments would drop about 40 percent in the first quarter, as the virus outbreak hurt demand and sparked supply chain issues.
Last week, Apple Inc chief executive Tim Cook wrote a letter to investors warning it would not meet its initial revenue guidance for the current quarter due to demand issues, and the outbreak’s impact on suppliers.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Apple’s most important partner, has yet to fully resume work across its plants in China, though some of its facilities are operating at partial capacity.
Apple also shut its branded stores across China, following similar moves by most other major retailers.
Earlier this month Xiaomi Corp (小米) CEO Lei Jun (雷軍) unveiled the company’s new line of flagship devices via an online livestream, in lieu of a live audience.
In the stream, he thanked Xiaomi’s suppliers for helping the company in the run-up to the release and warned consumers that there might be some delays in delivery.
China’s smartphone brands are planning to release a range of 5G-enabled phones this year in hopes of reviving growth in the sector.
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