Coronavirus outbreak: Global smartphone output may drop to 5-year low

Seoul: Global smartphone production in the first quarter of the year may drop to a 5-year low due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, a market researcher said on Monday.

TrendForce said it expects global smartphone production in the first quarter to decline 12 per cent year-on-year to 275 million units following the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 900 people in China.

“Delayed resumption work and uncertainties in employees’ returns will cause the monthly delivery of key components to be postponed, thus affecting the progress of smartphone production,” TrendForce said, according to a Yonhap news agency report. Among the top six smartphone vendors, No. 1 player Samsung Electronics Company was expected to produce 71.5 million smartphones in the first quarter, a 3 percent fall from its initial forecast, according to TrendForce.

However, Samsung was projected to suffer less damage from the virus outbreak than other manufacturers since the South Korean tech giant’s main production base is in Vietnam, TrendForce said, adding that the company’s smartphones account for only 2 percent of the domestic market in China. (IANS)

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