Apple felt Covid-19 impact the least in India: Canalys report

Almost all industries across the world have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and smartphones are no exception. People stopped buying smartphones for a long while in the middle due to stores being shut, smartphones not being classified as essentials thus being off the list for online e-commerce portals as well and of course economic instability.

As per a Canalys report, smartphone shipments in India fell by 48% to 17.3 million units in Q2 2020.

All smartphone brands saw a decline in their shipments in the last quarter, however, the least impacted in all of this was Apple.

The Canalys report says that Apple was the brand that was least impacted among the top-10. Apple’s shipments fell just by 20% year-on year to touch just over 250,000 in Q2 2020.

Otherwise too things have been good for Apple in the country - the company has been looking to ramp up manufacturing in India all the more following PM Modi’s ‘vocal for local’ call and Apple’s partners, Foxconn and Wistron, are also looking to pump in significant investments in India.

Besides Apple, smartphone market leader Xiaomi’s annual growth, as per Canalys, was down by 48% this quarter but it still commanded 31% market share. Vivo came in at number two and saw its annual growth down by 36%. Samsung saw a 60% drop, Oppo saw a 27% and Realme a 35%.

Canalys analyst Madhumita Chaudhary pointed out that while vendors saw a spike in sales the very moment the markets opened up, production facilities have been struggling with staff shortage and new regulations leading to low production output. All factories, including smartphone ones, have had to fall in with new rules that ensures ample social distancing and safety protocols.

Chaudhary also added that the fluidity of the lockdown has had a deep impact on the vendors’ market strategies which has left them wanting as well.

The recent anti-China sentiment has impacted Chinese brands as well and according to Adwait Mardikar, another Canalys Research analyst, the public anger against all things Chinese (due to the military tensions between India and China at the border) and the Aatmannirbhar initiatives across the country pushed the Chinese smartphone vendors in a tight spot.

Canalys also estimated that over 96% of all the smartphone sold in India last year was manufactured or assembled in the country,