The tech industry has already received a huge hit with a 40% slump in global smartphone sales since February 2020 in the wake of the outbreak. But the numbers are likely to be even worse according to anew prediction report.

Technology market intelligence and advisory firm CCS Insight now predicts that phone sales worldwide will drop to a ten-year low in 2020. Amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the firm says demand among consumers id falling as supply chains also slowdown thus impacting manufacture and distribution.

Image courtesy CCS Insight

In 2019, 1.81 billion smartphones were shipped globally. However, with the current plummet already, the global phone market is expected to slow by 13% in 2020. This will likely be felt the most during the second quarter that’s feared to fall by a whopping 29%.

Start off your week with tech news recap and trending conversations in your inbox

Enter valid email-id

Subscribe

I prefer it on Telegram

Kenyan Sales Not Spared

The same downward slope has even ben predicted for the Kenyan market with sales already dropping. A previous report by International Data Corporation (IDC), did predict a 12% decline in shipments, thus affecting sales not only in Kenya but the whole East African region.

For that, of course, companies and vendors will most likely be forced to raise their prices in order to meet their profits.

Ther might be a light at the end though as the global market is anticipated to recover in 2021 with a 4% outpace from 2019. But either way, we can all agree that 2020 will surely bleed even more as the outbreak still clings on across the globe.

But 2021 has been forecast as the dawn of 5G-enabled phones with a likely tenfold increase compared to last year. A total of 210 million 5G phones are expected to be sold this year, with nearly half of the volume coming from China. By 2024, sales of 5G phones could hit 1.15 billion units, accounting for 58% of all mobile phone sales.