Galaxy smartphone sales plummet as global pandemic rages on: Gartner

Last updated: June 2nd, 2020 at 10:17 UTC+01:00

The sales of Samsung Milky way smartphones are plummeting at an unprecedented pace equally the earth continues to fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak. While the South Korean tech giant did reasonably well – all things considered – in the starting time quarter of the twelvemonth, its Q1 2020 sales still endured a historic hit, Gartner reports. According to the marketplace watcher's latest industry overview, Samsung'southward mobile device sales over the initial three months of 2020 amounted to just over 55 meg, down 16 one thousand thousand (22.vii%) annually.

On the bright side for Samsung, it'southward however the global leader by end-user sales, with Gartner estimating the chaebol managed to seize some 18.5% of the market place in Q1 2020, down 0.6 points compared to 12 months ago.

Samsung's Q1 2020 mobile sales hint at (bad) things to come

Gartner'southward report, published Monday, offers picayune optimism for Samsung'southward nigh-term prospects in the smartphone infinite. That isn't to say this grim forecast is unique to the industry-leading handset manufacturer. On the contrary, the COVID-19 pandemic is already taking a comparable cost on Samsung's rivals. Its number one competitor, Huawei, hence experienced an even sharper refuse in smartphone sales year-over-twelvemonth, as the table beneath illustrates.

While the Galaxy S20 series was hardly setting the world alight even before the majority of the planet went into lockdown, the silver lining for Samsung is that its timing is impeccable. If this was any other year, Huawei would have likely seized a meaning portion of Samsung'south premium market place share. In reality, the Chinese behemoth is preoccupied with staying operational in light of crippling U.S. sanctions, pregnant Samsung has a debt of gratitude to the Trump administration.