The International Data Corporation (IDC) has found that Nigeria’s smartphone shipments declined 13.6 percent, with demand for both types of mobile devices hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The June report of the IDC also showed that Nigeria’s feature market suffered a 12.5 percent quarters one quarter (QoQ) decline in shipments in Q1 2020.
According to the report, the smartphone market is experiencing a lull because China, where the majority of the global phone manufacturers have their plants, was the epicenter of the virus and therefore had to lockdown earlier than the rest of the world, adding that the strict lockdown the country enforced led to many manufacturers failing to keep up with the demand for their products.
The IDC report revealed that smartphone makers shipped 275.8 million devices between January to March 2020, which indicates an 11.7% drop year-on-year as well as its largest annual decline ever, as vendors complain about a shortage in supply.
The report hinted that there would be further decline of 15.7 percent QoQ decline in overall mobile phone shipments in Q2 2020 as the lockdown of major businesses aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19 pandemic continues to have a negative impact.
With most parts of the world still locked down with an attendant clampdown on shipments of goods, except for essentials, the supply chain continues to be disrupted.
Canalys, a research firm, has also said that the speed of recovery for the smartphone market in 2020 might be slow. Citing an expected rise in job losses in other sectors, the firm noted that the consumer’s spending power will most likely drop.
