The coronavirus outbreak is taking human prisoners. A new report says that coronavirus will affect China smartphone sales in 1Q 2020.
Coronavirus to affect China smartphone sales in 1Q 2020
According to industry sources, the coronavirus outbreak will cause a large drop in China smartphone sales in 1Q 2020. China smartphone imports will drop 9% in the same quarter. Imports could have even greater decline if the coronavirus outbreak remains out of control past February 2020. Chinese processor chipmaker MediaTek says its sales will drop 15%. Foundry company Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) doesn’t intend to revise its numbers for the first quarter.
Coronavirus: How it will impact sales
A key question to the report is the question, “how will coronavirus affect China sales?” The answer is found in that smartphones are touched, seen in stores, held, and so on.
Customers interact with smartphone screens when looking for a new phone. The tactile nature of phone interaction is the direct way coronavirus spreads from person to person.
When you consider that the coronavirus is spreading throughout China, with hundreds now sick, it makes sense to stay away from public places where lots of people congregate.
In other words, the coronavirus outbreak will directly impact in-store attendance. Few customers will want to frequent stores and touch phones in light of a communicable disease.
Think of online retailers such as Amazon and eBay that sell Chinese smartphones to the international market. Few international customers, in light of coronavirus, desire to purchase smartphones from China.
The risk of contracting coronavirus is too great to take the chance on a smartphone from the outbreak country. Even in the US, hundreds of thousands of miles away from Beijing, there are now 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Coronavirus is already affecting international conferences such as MWC 2020
Coronavirus will affect not only smartphone sales in China and international imports, but also tech conferences. Take Mobile World Congress 2020, for example. It is the first international conference of the new year, yet Chinese OEMs are canceling their press conferences.
LG says it isn’t coming to MWC to protect its employees. ZTE is canceling its press conference, though it says it will still have a booth at MWC. ZTE says it will sanitize its booth and products every day to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
With the coronavirus outbreak and its spreading potential at a global conference like MWC, it is a wonder that the international conference itself is still on for this month.
The coronavirus started last month in Wuhan. Dr. Li Wenliang was the doctor who first reported the unusual virus outbreak in a chat room. He was called in by doctors and the police and forced to sign a statement denouncing his claim as nothing more than a mere rumor.
Wenliang died on Friday, becoming another one of the more than 600 victims who have died from the disease since the outbreak began.