Many smartphone makers are now hoping that sales in China can cushion declines in overseas markets in coming months.
Sources report Apple Inc (AAPL.O) shipped roughly 2.5 million iPhones in China in March, a slight rebound after one of its worst months in the country ever, according to government data published on Friday. Chinese retailers largely resumed operations by early March, with brick-and-mortar outlets re-opening and e-commerce logistics getting back in gear after the virus and tough containment measures brought much of the economy to a standstill in the first two months. Apple shipped roughly 500,000 phones in China in February, according to the CAICT.
Smartphone companies trying to avoid decline in sales
Smartphone companies are hoping for a strong recovery in demand in China, where the deadly coronavirus is subsiding, just as it spreads overseas and looks set to trigger a global recession. Mobile phone shipments in China in March totalled 21 million units, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a government think tank. That was a more than three-fold increase from February, yet still down roughly 20% compared with March 2019