COVID-19 has affected global business so severely that people haven’t bought as many smartphones as before. New reports say that fewer people bought phones in 2020. In the second quarter, only 295 million people around the world bought smartphones, indicating a 20.4% drop.
COVID-19 and Smartphone Sales
However, this new Gartner report didn’t seem to affect Apple much. Engadget reports that Apple’s sales remained stable this year. According to the Gartner report, Apple still sold 38 million iPhones in the second quarter of 2020. The company’s sales declined year-over-year, but only by 0.4%.
Global smartphone shipments tanked by 20.4 percent due to the pandemic https://t.co/FmRF8pCAKC pic.twitter.com/KPtzPcJaDz
— Engadget (@engadget) August 25, 2020
Apple’s release of the cheaper iPhone SE and its improved relations with China helped the company weather COVID-19. Moreover, the situation in India never affected Apple at all.
COVID-19 and the Indian Market
COVID-19 had stopped the steady growth of smartphone sales in India. During the pandemic, the country put strict lockdown measures in place. With nobody going out, nobody was buying phones. So, phone sales in the country dropped by 46%, the worst plunge in the world.
The State of Smartphone Companies Under COVID-19
Even though they are the biggest smartphone makers in the world, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Realme also suffered the steepest drop in phone sales this year. Samsung also joined the list of severely affected companies. The Korean tech giant saw a 27% year-over-year decline in phone sales for 2020, gaining only 54 million sales. For the Chinese phone makers, Xiaomi and Oppo’s sales fell by 21.5% and 15.9%, respectively.
With a drastic plunge in phone sales, these companies are now turning to computer manufacturing. The pandemic has forced everyone to work from home, and these tech companies have begun catering to them. In 2020, computer sales rose dramatically.
