After 15% decline in sales in H1 2020 Chinese makers could lose more in H2

Smartphone manufacturers from China are on a path to report a double-digit decline in H2 2020, Digitimes Research predicts. While the first half was turbulent due to the arrival of COVID-19, the second one will also show little improvement due to the overall economic situation and the persistence of the pandemic in some major markets.

The Top 4 vendors from China - Huawei, Oppo, vivo, and Xiaomi - reported 82.3% of their total sales at home due to the export constraints where users simply couldn’t afford a new smartphone in these turbulent times.

Looking at the quarterly results, shipments in Q2 were 157 million, 43.3% more than Q1, but on a yearly basis, the number is 15.2% less shipped units. Of the top companies, Huawei saw 2.1% yearly growth in shipments, Oppo and vivo had a single-digit decline, while Xiaomi took a massive hit - 27.1% fewer smartphones sold.

Chinese companies and retailers expect to bounce back with the rollout of ultra-affordable 5G phones (around CNY1,000 or $150) in the second half of 2020. A total revival back to 2019 numbers is highly unlikely to the “lukewarm prospect for the global economy” that “will hurdle their shipments in H2 2020”, Digitimes Research added.

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