Apple gained share as the company’s new iPhone SE 2020 hit the sweet spot in Germany, even as the country’s smartphone market had its worst quarter at the height of COVID-19, with sales plunging 27% from a year earlier, according to Counterpoint Research. The German market now is in a gradual recovery, bouncing back from the low of April.
iPhone SE gives customers access to Apple’s robust ecosystem of products, services and accessories. Users can take advantage of the almost 2 million apps on the App Store, including the best third-party apps.
Germany smartphone sales saw a big fall of 27% in Q2 2020 compared to a year ago. The figure was down 15% from the previous quarter. Europe’s largest economy went into a nationwide lockdown in mid-March in an attempt to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. But this drastic measure ended up pushing the economy into a recession in the second quarter. The nation’s GDP decreased sharply to 10.1% while consumer spending shrank by 10.9%. Smartphone market tumbled due to closures of almost all physical shops and many consumers putting off their next smartphone purchase due to the prevailing economic uncertainty.
Samsung, the leading smartphone player in Germany, maintained its position in the market with a 37% share, similar to the year-ago level. The strong performance of new low-end Galaxy A series models A21s and A41 helped it hold this position. Apple saw growth with an increase in share to 23% from 16% a year ago…
Apple’s growth in the second quarter was due to strong demand for the new iPhone SE 2020. The affordable iPhone with new hardware caters to more price-conscious buyers amid a COVID-19-driven recession. Huawei remained at an 18% share, similar to the level in the previous quarter but slightly less than that in the same period last year.
The German smartphone market has started to recover slowly from the low reached in April. We expect smartphone sales to rise in the third quarter. Economists too are forecasting economic improvement for the same quarter. Although infection rates are surging again, Germany is reluctant to go in for fresh lockdowns. Instead, Chancellor Angela Merkel is weighing personal protection measures like wearing masks. Therefore, we expect the second wave of COVID-19 will have less impact on the smartphone market than the initial outbreaks of April 2020.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, the iPhone SE, although planned long before the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic destruction due to indeterminate lockdowns, was an extremely well-timed product!
