The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Supplies of the hottest smartphones could soon run out
Official: Global handset production fell to 35% of normal levels in February.
As Chinese factories hit by the coronavirus look to restart production, the pain is only beginning for carriers that rely on steady shipments of Asian smartphones.
AT&T is bracing for handset shortages across the U.S. A carrier in the U.K. and one in France are already dealing with supply disruption and could run out of some popular models, people familiar with the matter said.
British network operators may even resort to using stockpiles of phones they’d built up in case of a Brexit-related supply crunch, said a company executive who asked not to be identified as the information is private.
The supply chain chaos may last only a few weeks, but it’s already wiping out the smartphone industry’s hopes for sales growth this year.
Worldwide device sales are set to fall 4.3% in 2020, with European sales tumbling 7.4%, industry consultancy Canalys says. It was forecasting global growth of 3.6% before the virus brought much of Chinese industry to a halt.
“There’s a huge supply-side shortage for smartphones that we are already starting to see trickle through to some markets around the world,” said Ben Stanton, head of devices research for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Canalys. He said global handset production was 35% of normal levels in February, will return to 85% this month and could get back to normal by April. The output slump means it’ll take time to fix delivery backlogs for brands like Apple, Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies.
About 5 million mobile phones are sold every day. Many of those units take just a few weeks to go from the assembly plant to the consumer in tightly choreographed arrangements planned months in advance.