Even the world's second largest smartphone market isn't immune to Covid-19.
Smartphone shipments to India fell 48% in the second quarter over the same period a year ago, the most drastic drop that one of the rare growing markets has seen in a decade, research firm Canalys reported Friday night. .
About 17.3 million smartphone units were shipped in the second quarter of 2020, down from 33 million in the second quarter of 2019 and 33.5 million in the first quarter of 2020, the research firm said.
You can blame coronavirus for this.
New Delhi ordered a nationwide blockade in late March to curb the spread of the virus which saw all stores across the country - except for those selling groceries and pharmacies - temporarily stop the operation. Even e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Flipkart were prohibited from selling smartphones and other items classified as "non-essential" by the government.
The protracted blockade lasted until mid-May, after which the Indian government felt that other e-commerce stores and deliveries could resume their services across much of the country. The severe New Delhi measure explains why the smartphone market in India has fallen so heavily.
China, the largest smartphone market in the world, in comparison saw only an 18% drop in shipments in the quarter ended March, the period in which the country was most affected by the virus. In the first quarter, when India was not largely affected by the virus, smartphone shipments increased 4% in the country. (Globally, smartphone shipments declined 13% in the 1st quarter, a figure that is expected to improve slightly to a 12% drop this year.)
"It has been a rocky road towards recovery for the smartphone market in India," said Madhumita Chaudhary, an analyst at Canalys. "While suppliers saw a slump in sales as markets opened, production facilities struggled with staff shortages in addition to new production regulations, resulting in reduced production."
Despite the blockade, Xiaomi maintained its dominance in India. The Chinese smartphone vendor, which has been India's leading smartphone vendor since late 2018, shipped 5.3 million smartphone units in the quarter that ended in June this year and commanded 30.9%. of the local market, according to Canalys.
With 3.7 million shipping units and a 21.3% market share in India, Vivo kept second place. Samsung, which once ruled the Indian smartphone market and has made significant investments in the country in recent months, has settled in third place with a 16.8% share.
Almost all smartphone vendors have launched new phones in India in recent weeks as they try to recover from downtime and more new smartphone launches are expected in the coming month.
But for some of these players, the virus isn't the only obstacle.
Anti-Chinese sentiment has been gaining head in India in recent months since more than 20 Indian soldiers have been killed in a military confrontation in the Himalayas in June. "Boycott of China" - and variations of it - was trending on Twitter in India when a number of people posted videos that destroy smartphones, TVs and other Chinese products. Late last month, India also banned 59 apps and services developed by Chinese companies.
Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, which now takes fourth place in India and other Chinese smartphone vendors control nearly 80% of the smartphone market in India.
Chaudhary of Canalys, however, believes that these smartphone companies will be able to largely avoid the backlash as "alternatives from Samsung, Nokia or even Apple they are not competitively priced. "
Apple, which controls only 1% of the Indian smartphone market, was the least affected among the top 10 suppliers as iPhone shipments dropped only 20% year-on-year to over 250,000 in the second quarter of 2020, he said. Canalys.