Despite supply chains resuming after weeks of shutdown, global smartphone production is expected to plunge an historic record 16.5% to 287 million phones in the June quarter from a year earlier, TrendForce reports, as the coronavirus pandemic muzzles demand.
Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc will retain their first and third spots on the leaderboard, but are both expected to lose market share to Chinese rivals, the market research firm said on Thursday.
That follows a 10% drop in output worldwide in the March quarter, when the outbreak spread and peaked in China before sweeping through Europe and the United States. TrendForce cut its annual output forecast to 1.24 billion smartphones, down 11.3% from 2019, from 1.35 billion.
TrendForce estimates iPhone production fell nearly 9% to about 38 million units in the March quarter, and expects a further drop of 2 million units in the current one. Apple’s market share will slip to 12.6% this quarter from 13.5% in the last, TrendForce said.
“Chinese brands are exerting continuous pressure on Samsung’s presence in the Southeast Asian and Indian markets by the day,” the firm added. On Wednesday, the South Korean tech giant warned of significant declines in its mobile business in the second quarter.
MacDailyNews Take: The only surprising thing is that the plunge in global smartphone production wasn’t worse. Thankfully, this too shall pass!
