Over the year, a total of 1.36 billion devices will be produced
Due to strong sales of the Apple iPhone 12 series, as well as the aggressive strategy of Chinese manufacturers in response to the US sanctions against Huawei, which lost significant market share as a result, global smartphone production in this quarter will decline by only 6% compared to the previous quarter. In total, 342 million devices will be shipped from January to March. Such data are contained in the forecast published this week by the analytical company TrendForce. Analysts add that the figure corresponds to an annualized growth of 25%.
Global smartphone production to shrink 6% this quarter
Historically, smartphone production in the first quarter has tended to fall by about 20% over the previous quarter, as demand falls from its peak season in the fourth quarter of the previous year. However, this year’s first quarter results are expected to be seasonally independent.
Analysts believe the industry will gradually recover in the remainder of 2021 as the pandemic slows down. Given the cyclical demand for replacement devices, as well as demand from emerging regions, TrendForce predicts total smartphone production in 2021 to reach 1.36 billion units, up 9% from last year.
