Due to the coronavirus outbreak, global smartphone sales saw a dip in growth in the first quarter of 2020. As users were spending less on non-essential items like phones and laptops, this caused a big drop in global smartphone shipments. Popular companies like Samsung, Apple, Oppo, and Huawei witnessed a heavy decline in smartphone sales growth in Q1 2020.
Xiaomi, on the other hand, was the only brand among the top five smartphone vendors to record strong sales in Q1 2020. The Redmi devices in global markets and aggressive online channel focus drove Xiaomi to “achieve better than expected sales.” This information comes from the latest industry research report by Gartner. Xiaomi alone saw 1.4 percent YoY growth among other top brands compared to last year.
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The report stated that global smartphone sales dropped by 20.2 percent YoY in the first quarter of 2020. Top smartphone brands like Samsung saw a decline of 22.7 percent. Huawei, on the other hand, witnessed a 27.3 percent drop in global smartphone sales in Q1 2020. Apple comparatively performed better and saw an 8.2 percent fall in sales.
“Apple had a strong start to the year thanks to its new product line up that saw strong momentum globally. If COVID-19 did not happen, the vendor would have likely seen its iPhone sales reached record level in the quarter. Supply chain disruptions and declining consumer spending put a halt to this positive trend in February,” said Annette Zimmermann, research vice president at Gartner.
Oppo too witnessed a decline of 24.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020, as per the report. “Oppo’s offline distribution which is one of its strengths suffered as the work from home trend forced consumers and businesses to purchase products online. To grow its sales and market share, it is paramount that Oppo strengthens its online channel.”