Smartphone sales plummet 40% because of Covid-19

Despite the downturn, Xiaomi overtook Huawei to become the third most popular brand

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The Mi 10 Pro might have helped Xiaomi score a win during the smartphone downturn. (Picture: Xiaomi)

Masha Borak

Published: 2:53pm, 20 Mar 2020

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit global smartphone sales hard, according to data from Strategy Analytics. In February, when the height of the outbreak in China hit supply chains and consumer demand, smartphone shipments fell by 38% and sales to end-users fell 39% compared with the previous year.

Although all smartphone brands saw a decline, Xiaomi at least scored one win. The brand surpassed Huawei in shipment and sales volume last month, leaping to third place. This could be because Xiaomi was one of the first major brands to launch a flagship phone this year. And despite the Mi 10 being the most expensive Mi brand phone yet, the company’s flash sale tactics helped the phone sell out in 55 seconds after its launch.

Strategy Analytics’ numbers show that Samsung topped global shipment and sales charts for the month, followed by Apple, Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo and Vivo. Sales in China have been particularly bad, falling to the lowest number in six years. Apple only shipped 500,000 phones in February, down by more than a half from last year.

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