According to Gartner, global sales of smartphones to end users declined 20.2% in the first quarter of 2020. The global shelter-in-place combined with the economic uncertainty brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic led to demand for smartphones collapsing as consumers stopped spending on nonessential products during the first quarter. “The coronavirus pandemic caused the global smartphone market to experience its worst decline ever – said Anshul Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner -. Most of the leading Chinese manufacturers and Apple were severely impacted by the temporary closures of their factories in China and reduced consumer spending due to the global shelter-in-place.” All of the top smartphone vendors recorded a decline in the first quarter of 2020, except for Xiaomi (Table 1). Strong sales of Redmi devices in international markets and aggressive online channel focus led Xiaomi to achieve better than expected sales. Although Samsung’s smartphone sales declined 22.7% in the first quarter of 2020, the company still maintained the No. 1 spot with 18.5% market share.
