Data insights company Kantar has revealed its analysis of the smartphone market for Q2 2020 and per the report, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected sales. Apple and Xiaomi did pretty well during the quarter, while Huawei continued to face challenges in international markets.
In the US, Australia, Japan, China, and EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK), the iPhone SE and iPhone 11 took the first and second spots interchangeably.
The 2019 models from Samsung’s budget A series outperformed the 2020 variants during the second quarter of the year. The success of the A series is not particularly good news for the premium Galaxy S20 range, with the mid-tier models boasting a good many cutting-edge features that the pricier phones have. Out of all the EU5 markets, the Galaxy S20 made it to the list of top ten phones in the UK only. It’s also the only market where the chaebol’s share grew.
Xiaomi witnessed its sales grow 6 percent when compared to the year-ago quarter in EU5 and it overtook Huawei as the third most popular brand. Huawei’s sales, on the other hand, declined not only in Europe but also in Australia and Japan. Although the company accounted for around 50 percent of shipments in its home country of China, the iPhone 11 emerged as the top-selling model in its home ground.
The UK government’s ban on Huawei’s 5G gear has the potential to hurt sales further as it will harm the brand image. Its market share will likely be scooped up by Xiaomi and other Chinese companies such as OnePlus and Oppo.
COVID-19 fueled recession could reduce the demand for flagships such as the iPhone 12
Kantar’s survey
Kantar also carried out a consumer survey to find out how the pandemic has affected purchase decisions. While only a small fraction of people plan to cancel their purchases, a good many are thinking about delaying an upgrade or cutting their budget.
Although this presents an opportunity to boost the sales of low and mid-tier devices, it could also be bad news for upcoming flagships like the Galaxy Note 20 and iPhone 12. Samsung’s upcoming flagship will reportedly be as expensive as its predecessor and the iPhone 12 could actually end up being costlier than its progenitor. Per a recent report, the pricing strategy will factor heavily in building sales momentum for the first 5G-enabled iPhones and add to that the latest findings, we can see the budget iPhone SE cutting into the sales of Apple’s flagship models.
