Slowdown visible since late February, says IDC
Localized lockdowns, a semiconductor shortage, and a surge in Covid-19 cases at factories have led to a slowdown in mobile phone manufacturing and sales in April-May, heads of several companies told Business Standard.
Industry veterans such as S N Rai, co-founder, Lava International, and Rajesh Agarwal, co-founder, Micromax, said production was down about 50 percent in this period as the pandemic raged across the country.“The situation is certainly challenging in this (June) quarter. Though some firms, including ours, could carry on production in April because of buffer component stocks, not all companies were able to do it. May, so far, has been disastrous for all, as the disease spreads and lockdown curbs remain intact. At an industry level, therefore, the hit to business is easily 50 percent,” said Rai.
On Tuesday, news agency Reuters, citing sources, reported a 50 percent cut in the production of iPhones at Foxconn’s Chennai facility due to a wave of Covid-19 infections at the factory. Foxconn is Apple’s contract manufacturer in India. It also produces phones for Xiaomi in the country.
According to research firm IDC, a slowdown in smartphone shipments began showing up as early as late February, though companies insist that the March quarter was fine, albeit on a low base.
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