Shipments of TVs, Smartphones, PCs Forecast to Fall 7%-9%
Global demand for display panels, one of Korea’s major export items, is expected to slide by nearly 10 percent compared to the previous year due to the spread of the new coronavirus.
The Korea Export-Import Bank's Overseas Economics Research Institute forecast in a report published on April 8 that global demand from main display buyers will drop by 7 to 9 percent compared to 2019.
Omdia, a market research company, predicted that global TV shipments will reach 203.5 million units in 2020, down 8.7 percent from 222.9 million units in 2019. This is a decrease of 9.7 percent from its previous forecast of 2,484.8 million units.
Mobile phone sales are expected to decline 7 percent due to slowing demand in major regions such as China, Europe, and North America. The spread of the deadly virus is on the wane in China, the largest smartphone market, but COVID-19 patients are on the rise in North America and Europe.
Moreover, it is unclear whether cell phone production outside of China will be normalized. India's cell phone plant will be temporarily closed by April 14 in compliance with the Indian government’s order. According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, the share of mobile phone production by country is in the order of China (70 percent), India (13.6 percent) and Vietnam (9.7 percent).
The report predicts that PC shipments will also decrease by 9 percent. "China, the world's PC production base, is expected to see an increase in workers' return from March, but production is expected to go to normalcy after May due to parts supply issues," the report said.