Smartphone market is expected to drop 2.3 percent in 2020 with shipment volume just over 1.3 billion – due to the spread of coronavirus.

The COVID-19 outbreak is expected to result into 10.6 percent drop in the first half of 2020. Global smartphone shipments are expected to return to growth in 2021 driven by accelerated 5G efforts.

China’s smartphone market will drop by nearly 40 percent year over year in the first quarter. “Buyers will purchase from online channels, which will account for a significantly increased share of phones sold in the first half of 2020 and may represent a permanent shift in buying behaviors,” said Will Wong, research manager with IDC’s Asia/Pacific Client Devices Group.

The SMEs in the phone industry, especially retail channel partners, will see the biggest effect and phone vendors that can effectively help their retail channel and other partners recover and reconsolidate after the end of the epidemic will secure more opportunities.

PC business

PC shipments will decline 9 percent in 2020 to 374.2 million. The drop in PC business is due to two significant factors; the Windows 7 to Windows 10 transition creates tougher growth comparisons and the spread of COVID-19 is hampering supply and leading to reduced demand.

PC business will drop 8.2 percent during the first quarter of 2020 and, followed by a decline of 12.7 percent in Q2 2020 as the existing inventory of components and finished goods from the first quarter will have been depleted by the second quarter.