Coronavirus is making it’s away around the world, and it is no secret that it originates from Wuhan, China. How is the virus affecting China besides the spread out of the infection? According to the Strategy Analytics, a research firm, the smartphone companies may suffer severely. How? The smartphone shipments may drop 30% to 62.3 million units in the first quarter of this year.
Coronavirus impact on smartphone sales
Although the coronavirus is assumed to be effectively under control by late February or hopefully as late as March, based on Strategy Analytics gathered and analyzed data, it will still have a significant impact on phone companies’ sales. China’s government is struggling to keep the virus under control; however, the companies’ reactions to the outbreak are not all so great.
Unfortunately, due to the virus, a large number of smartphone stores in China have dropped in their sales percentage, and some even closed down for some time. Take Apple, for example, 42 of its stores from China will be closed until February 9 due to the virus outbreak. What does this mean to the Chinese iPhone consumers? It means that up to one million iPhone sales could be delayed, which is also bad for Apple too.
Coronavirus becomes a global threat
The situation in China could have an even worse effect internationally, as most of the smartphones are made in the country. In fact, 70 percent of the smartphones are manufactured in China. The quarantine and travel restrictions to and from China could result in labor shortages, which will cause further consequences for factory operations.
Coronavirus is making an impact all over the world and is not just messing with people’s health, but it takes a toll on the handset stores and probably on other types of companies as well. The virus must be put under control soon.
