Global Production of Smartphones rises despite the coronavirus pandemic
The coronavirus outbreak has impeded the growth of many industries on a global scale. As a result, for most industries, growth is an unexpected trend for this year. However, this is not the case for Smartphone manufacturers all over the world.
It is no small feat for the global production of smartphones to be up, more so by a whopping 20% quarter-on-quarter increase (QoQ). The third quarter of 2020 has recorded about 336 million units produced according to TrendForce stats. The 20% increase is the highest growth recorded in the industry in recent times, and what makes it even more spectacular is the global situation at the time.
Admittedly, earlier quarters of 2020 did reflect a marked plummet in QoQ due to the pandemic. However, the growth recorded in the third quarter indicates a gradual recovery from the effects of the pandemic.
Amidst the challenging circumstances, Samsung and Xiaomi stood out of the top six smartphone companies. These two companies went as far as increasing their market share in the third quarter.
The latest report by TrendForce reflects a 42% QoQ growth as a result of Samsung’s 78 million produced units. With such a large production, the South Korean company was able to hold on to their top spot in the global market.
The worst is not over for the tech giant, however, as recent TrendForce predictions indicate that Samsung’s production will suffer a 16 million unit drop due to the launch of Apple’s iPhone 12 series. Another factor that will contribute to the drop in production is the holiday stock up that happens in Europe and North America.
Oppo did not perform badly as they came in second with a QoQ growth of 64% which drove their production to an impressive 45 million units in the third quarter. TrendForce computed the Oppo production figure which included the devices from Oneplus, and Realme.
Xiaomi also enjoyed a 51% QoQ growth, putting their production at 44.5 million units this third quarter. Due to such close figures by oppo and Xiaomi, they both share the second spot on TrendForce’s ranking.
Due to U.S sanctions, Huawei has suffered monumental market losses. However, these losses greatly benefitted top competing companies like Vivi, Xiaomi, and Oppo. Trendforce predictions place Oppo and Xiaomi productions during the fourth quarter at 47 and 46 million units respectively.
Apple suffered a drop to the fourth position in the global market with an unimpressive QoQ growth of 2% in its iPhone production. The company still produced a staggering 42 million units for the third quarter. Experts believe the drop in Apple’s global market ranking was due to the delay in the launch of the iPhone 12 series. Hence, there is hope for the company to grow its global market in the fourth quarter. Trendforce predicts that Apple’s fourth-quarter production may rise to an estimated 74.1 million units.
Despite the U.S sanctions and significant market losses, Huawei managed to be on par with Apple in terms of global smartphone production as well as global ranking in the third quarter. As a result of a QoQ decline of 19% by the Chinese company, they were only able to produce 42 million units.
Predictions by TrendForce indicates that a further fall by 30% QoQ will drive Huawei’s global production to 30 million units in the fourth quarter this year.
Vivo came in sixth after Huawei for the third quarter. The Chinese company increased its production by 13% to 30 million units. Vivo is expected to enjoy further growth in the fourth quarter that will push the production to 35 million units.
Due to the ongoing border disputes between India and China, the sales efforts of Chinese companies such as Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi have suffered some constraints. India is one of the largest foreign markets for Chinese companies. Thankfully, the three top Chinese manufacturers enjoy strong brand recognition as well as localized supply chains. However, further border disputes may do more damage to the sales of Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo devices in India.
It should come as no surprise that global smartphone production this year will suffer a year-on-year (YoY) 11% plummet to 1.2 billion units due to the effects of the pandemic. However, the forecast for next year by TrendForce indicates a 9% YoY increase to 1.36 billion units.
The focus for the year 2020 has been 5G, and the year 2021 will continue the same trend. Suppliers of smartphones worldwide will focus on expanding their 5G solutions to mid-range and low-end smartphones. As a result, 5G models will enjoy an increase in the annual global market share in 2021. Trendforce forecast places the growth of 5G models at 20% in 2020 and 40% in 2021.
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