Covid-19: April, May to be the worst months for the Indian smartphone market

According to a new report, India’s smartphone market may see a revival in October-December period but it may not be as huge as the previous years.

The e-commerce companies have also made their services exclusive to these essential products. (LiveMint)

India's smartphone industry is going to be hit hard by the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. A new report by techARC dives deeper into how the segment will play out in the coming months.

According to the report, April and May could be the worst months for the Indian smartphone companies. It's worth noting that the government has ordered a nationwide lockdown which exempts only essential services. The e-commerce companies have also made their services exclusive to these essential products.

"There can be no qualitative deterministic measurement of the impact done in this situation. There are so many uncertainties around and the situation is impacting both the supply and the demand side of the market," said Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst, techARC.

The report points out that the market will start to move towards normalcy after August. The industry, however, could bank on the festive season which usually bring a short spike for the Indian smartphone companies. The festive season usually begins in late October. Amazon and Flipkart run huge online sales.

"Even Oct-Dec quarter will be attempt revival of demand on account of festive season sentiments, the macro-economic scenario by then as well as threat factor of the viral infection resurfacing towards the winter will keep the demand lukewarm. Only if, there would be a vaccination available by then at mass scale, the market could see revival, but not at the normal levels," added the report.

Some brands like Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OPPO, Nokia HMD and Lava have already set up services on top of the active user base. (techARC)

Some brands like Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OPPO, Nokia HMD and Lava have already set up services on top of the active user base. (techARC)

"Only if, there would be a vaccination available by then at mass scale, the market could see revival, but not at the normal levels," Kawoosa said, adding that the smartphone industry will have to look at other revenues, especially service-oriented offerings, to offset the gap which will arise due to low sales of smartphones in 2020.

Some brands like Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OPPO, Nokia HMD and Lava have already set up services on top of the active user base.

"They need to further look for more paying services to narrow the gap between the potential earnings through sale of hardware and the actual revenues they can realise in 2020," said the report.

India's smartphone industry, however, isn't alone in bearing the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A recent report from research Strategy Analytics reported a significant 38% dip in smartphone shipments in the month of February 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Linda Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, "global smartphone shipments tumbled a huge 38 per cent annually from 99.2 million units in the month of February, 2019, to 61.8 million in February, 2020."

(With inputs from IANS)