Covid-19: After economic fallout, Apple, Xiaomi show some recovery in China

Apple shipped 2.5 million iPhones to China in March after a virus slump the previous month, show government data

Apple Inc shipped roughly 2.5 million iPhones to China in March, a slight rebound after one of its worst months in the country ever, according to government data published on Friday.

Smartphone companies are hoping for a strong recovery in demand in China, where the deadly coronavirus is now subsiding, just as it spreads across the world and looks set to trigger a global recession.

Mobile phone shipments in China in March totalled 21 million units, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a government think-tank.

That was a more than three-fold increase from February, yet still down roughly 20% compared with March 2019.

Chinese retailers largely resumed operations by early March, with brick-and-mortar outlets re-opening and e-commerce logistics getting back in gear after the virus and tough containment measures brought much of the economy to a standstill in the first two months.

Apple shipped roughly 500,000 phones in China in February, according to the CAICT.

Many smartphone makers are now hoping that sales in China can cushion declines in overseas markets in coming months.

In its quarterly earnings call, the then-CFO of Xiaomi Corp said that the Chinese market had recovered to roughly 80% of its normal levels.

"The (Chinese) market has entered a full recovery stage, and... has already recovered to 80 to 90% of the normal level," Chief Financial Officer Shou Zi Chew said on an earnings call.

He said sales in China fell in the first quarter due to the economic impact of the virus, but did not say by how much.

Chew said he expected demand for smartphones to be resilient globally even though the virus was spreading to other countries. The company will take a hit in global sales during March and April, he said, but expects to see signs of recovery in May.

"If we take reference from China's experience, I think smartphone demand is resilient," said Chew. "I think it will rebound quickly."

Overseas growth has been a key strategy for Xiaomi and other Chinese rivals in recent years as the domestic smartphone market has seen a period of contraction.

The company recently wrote a letter to the government of India, one of its largest markets, requesting that it consider smartphones an essential commodity and therefore exempt from shipping restrictions.

Xiaomi, which unveiled a new flagship 5G smartphone, the Redmi K30 Pro, said on March 19 that 80% of its supply chain had resumed operations. Chinese smartphone makers are hoping the domestic market, which has for years contracted, will see new life with the sale of 5G-enabled phones. Counterpoint Research estimates global smartphone sales fell 14% in February, and expects a steeper decline after that.