Global smartphone sales plummet amid pandemic

Samsung see biggest hit to sales but retains market share crown

Smartphone sales dropped 20 per cent in the second quarter as a result of global lockdowns, according to Gartner research.

Sales in the period totalled 295 million units as all markets outside of China continued to battle against the spread of COVID-19. Despite demand from end users in China, that market still saw sales decline seven per cent year-on-year in Q2.

"The improved situation in China saw demand recovering quarter on quarter," stated Anshul Gupta, senior research director at Gartner.

"Travel restrictions, retail closures and more prudent spending on nonessential products during the pandemic led to the second consecutive quarterly decline in smartphone sales this year."

Samsung took the biggest hit in sales, seeing sales decline 27 per cent, but it still managed to hold over 20 per cent of the global smartphone market in the second quarter.

Huawei saw sales drop nearly seven per cent, with demand in China helping it to avoid a worse quarterly performance.

Apple ranked third in the global market, seeing sales of its iPhone dip a slight 0.4 per cent. This was attributed to the Chinese recovery earlier in the year and the introduction of the iPhone SE, Gartner added.

"The COVID-19 pandemic continued to negatively affect Samsung's performance in the second quarter of 2020," said Gupta.

"Demand for its flagship S Series smartphones did little to revive its smartphone sales globally.

"Huawei extended its lead in China where it captured 42.6 per cent of China's smartphone market in the second quarter of 2020. It put in place an aggressive product introduction and sales promotion in China in particular and benefited from the strong support of communications services providers for its 5G smartphones."