Smartphone Shipments Slip

Pent-up demand after April, May lockdown pushes the June 2020 volumes to pre-COVID levels and the smartphone user base in India beyond the half a billion mark, says Counterpoint Research

The smartphone shipments declined by 51% YoY to just over 18 million units in Q2 this year in India, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service. The nationwide lockdown imposed by the Government of India to combat COVID-19 resulted in zero shipments during April. However, the market is starting to return to normal. In June 2020, Indian smartphone shipments registered a mild decline of 0.3% YoY, thanks to the pent-up demand as well as a push from brands. Due to concerns over potential COVID-19 infection, consumers prefer contactless purchasing and online channels. Smartphone brands are also recognizing this trend by pushing more inventory to online channels.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Prachir Singh, Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint, said, “The COVID-19 pandemic wiped-out almost 40 days of production as well as the sales of smartphones due to the nationwide lockdown. During May, the government allowed shops to open and online channel deliveries for non-essential items. As a result, the market witnessed a surge in sales as the lockdown restrictions were slowly lifted. The quarter was thus marred by both demand and supply constraints which led OEMs to rethink their go-to-market strategies. On the supply side, the factories were shut down in April and started operating in May, which resulted in supply shortages for some manufacturers. Some brands maintained the supply of their products by importing fully assembled handsets. Additionally, the last week of the quarter saw components being held up at customs, which also impacted the supply chain.”