Impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on global smartphone shipments growth 2020-2021

The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused massive disruption to the smartphone supply chain and production schedules. Tough economic circumstances and job insecurity has also led to consumers putting off their purchase of expensive items such as smartphones, crimping demand. There is some positivity in the long-term industry projections, with growth in 2021 expected to surpass initial estimates by 3.9 percent.

COVID-19 impact in Q2 2020

    Huawei are the smartphone vendor that have displayed the most resilience to the pandemic, recovering from an initial drop to increase their shipment volume from 49 million smartphones in Q1 2020, to 55.8 million smartphones in Q2 2020. That was enough to give Huawei a 20 percent share of the market, more than any other vendor. This marked the first time Huawei managed to ship more units than their competitors. Samsung, conversely, appear to be the hardest hit so far, with shipments dropping to their lowest level since the second quarter of 2012. Samsung shipped 54.2 million smartphones in the second quarter of 2020, marking two consecutive quarters of decline.

Smartphone shipments steady in Africa

  The African market gives an indication as to the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on smartphone shipments. Overall, smartphone shipments to Africa have remained steady, with vendors shipping 20.1 million smartphones in both Q1 2020 and Q2 2020.