Apple, OnePlus phones sale dropped by up to 50% during recent lockdowns: Report – morningtidings

With the second wave of Covid ravaging India and forcing state governments to impose strict lockdowns, the smartphone market in the country took a direct hit. Also, some states only allowed e-commerce companies like Amazon, Flipkart and others to deliver essential goods, causing further drop in sales.
As per a report by analytics firm PredictiVu, Apple and Oneplus were impacted the most with a drop in sales of up to 50% in April 2021. While all smartphone brands saw a dip in sales, budget smartphones helped them. The report claimed that Samsung had witnessed a drop in sales of 41% while Xiaomi’s sales were down by 28%. Other popular brands like Oppo, Vivo and Realme also saw a drop in the range of 32% to 42%.
“Brands with only flagship phones like Apple & OnePlus have been most impacted with over 50% drop in sales. Brands with predominantly budget phones like Xiaomi, Lava and smaller brands have been least impacted,” said Kunal Sarkar, vice president, PredictiVu.
The smartphone market in the range of between Rs 15,000 and Rs 30,000 were the most affected during the lockdown period. “The value and volume in large and mid-tier towns had declined by 56% and 58% respectively,” it added.
The under Rs 10,000 market showed the least drop in sales highlighting that people were looking to get more value for their money during the uncertain lockdown period. The drop in smartphone sales started in March 2021 while it was the maximum in April. The above Rs 20,000 smartphone market also took a significant hit of up to 48% sales drop during the period.
The sales of smartphones were strong in urban mega cities while in large and mid-tier cities there was a drop of up to 56%.