Smartphone sales in the country has hit almost zero, and it is hardly surprising given that the nation still is in a state of lockdown as it battles the deadly Covid 19 pandemic. Shipment figures for April is as good as zero as we spent the entire month locked down in our homes.
Economic activity came to an abrupt halt during the month with factories being shut and retail shops closed during the period. This is also the time online retailers were relegated to delivering only essential commodities as the entire nation shut themselves off to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
That said, Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research did point out that some smartphones were sold during the month though those numbers aren’t likely to be even in the thousands. This is in stark contrast to the around 11 – 12 million smartphones that get sold on a monthly basis in India during the pre-Covid 19 period.
Also, with manufacturing in the country yet to be anywhere near what it used to be before the pandemic outbreak, it could still be a month or two for smartphone shipments to reach the normal levels. As a silver lining, the government is now allowing online retailers to sell non-essential items as well, which should bring some respite to the smartphone industry.
As is already evident, retailers like Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal are already stumped with orders as pent up demand is giving way to increased orders. However, people seem to be holding back on purchasing new smartphone given the uncertainty that the economy is in at the moment.
Also, the drop in smartphone sales is evident the world over with manufacturing being badly hit and supply chains adversely affected. According to Counterpoint and Canalys, global shipments declined 13 percent so that 278.5 million smartphones got shipped during the January to March period.
