Smartphone shipments could fall by 5 million

Smartphone companies fear a loss of around 5 million shipment units in the quarter ending June 2021 owing to an expected complete washout in sales caused by the 15-day lockdown in Maharashtra and restrictions in states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

The government of Maharashtra has even barred sales and delivery of smartphones through e-commerce players. With offline retailers also shutting shop as the product does not come in the ‘essential’ category, both channels are effectively closed for smartphone players in the state.

Tarun Pathak, associate director at Counterpoint Research, estimates that the second quarter could witness a fall by 15% in the agency’s previous estimates of 37-39 million shipments. This could essentially mean a loss of around 5 million shipments. However, he expects annual demand to be resilient and therefore the agency is not changing the annual projections. However, some players have also flagged component shortages, particularly when it comes to chipsets and harder logistics management due to regional curfews.