Shaken by COVID-19... February Smartphone Shipments in China Halved

February Smartphone Shipments Down 55%
Sharp Drop from 14 Million to 6.34 Million Units
iPhone Also Falls from 1.27 Million to 494,000 Units

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] China's smartphone shipments in February have been halved. The smartphone market took a direct hit as factories stopped and stores could not operate normally due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

On the 10th, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, announced that smartphone shipments in February recorded 6.34 million units, a 55% decrease compared to the same month last year (14 million units).

Android smartphones produced by Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi sharply dropped from 12.72 million units to 5.85 million units. Apple's iPhone shipments fell from 1.27 million units to 494,000 units. Although iPhone monthly shipments had exceeded 2 million units, after the outbreak of COVID-19, shipments fell to double digits.

China's smartphone shipments decreased by 38.9% year-on-year in January and recorded an even steeper decline in February, which is expected to continue for a considerable period. Market research firms IDC and Canalys have forecasted that China's smartphone shipments in the first quarter will decrease by about 40%.

From the end of January, as COVID-19 infections surged in Wuhan city, manufacturing plants remained closed even after the Lunar New Year holidays in early February. Most stores in China could not operate normally, and Apple closed all its Apple Store locations in China but has recently started to resume operations.

(Photo by Yonhap News)

Especially, Huawei's future looks thorny. According to IT media The Information, Huawei's smartphone sales are expected to decrease by 20% this year. Due to the US-China trade dispute, Huawei was placed on the trade restriction list, preventing it from installing Google's Android operating system (OS) on its smartphones. Huawei's sales are expected to decline from 240 million units last year to around 190 million to 200 million units this year.

Last year, Huawei installed Android on its flagship smartphones P30 and P30 Pro, but starting with the P40, which will be released at the end of this month, it plans to install its own OS. It will not be able to use Google Play Store and must install its own app market. For global smartphone users accustomed to the Android OS, purchasing the P40 with its own OS is quite a risk.

IT media Nine to Five Google stated, "With Google apps no longer installable from the P40 onward, Huawei's situation has become more difficult this year, and other factors such as the COVID-19 virus may also affect Huawei's sales."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.