Smartphone market wakes up as Apple announces plans to launch new products
The smartphone market was buzzing again after Apple announced it was launching new products, including Apple Watch Series 6, iPad Air 4 and iPhone 12 later this year.
The sale of smartphones had dropped after many countries went into lockdown due to Covid-19 and China, the main supplier, decided to hold off on smartphone production and delivery.
In the first quarter of this year, large smartphone distributors suffered as sales dropped. Sale of Samsung phones dropped by 22.7 per cent, Huawei by 27.3 per cent and Apple by 8.2 per cent. Things began picking up in the second quarter after countries began easing lockdown measures and Apple’s performance rose by 25 per cent.
Meanwhile in China, smartphone sales rose and demand for iPhone SE2020 and Apple One, which integrates all of Apple’s services in one app, increased, which had a positive effect on the shares of IT product distributors and IT electronic parts manufacturers.
In Thailand, Apple distributor Com7’s second-quarter profits stood at Bt275 million, down 6.7 per cent year on year due to lockdown, though demand for IT products rose as more people began working from home and schools started teaching online.
Smartphone and equipment distributor Jaymart made a profit of Bt265 million in the second quarter, the highest this year. Another IT products distributor, Synnex, made Bt166 million in the second quarter, marking a 40 per cent increase year on year.
An analyst at Finansia Syrus Securities said Hana Microelectronics had also benefited from the increase in smartphone sales as it is part of the smartphone and consumer product supply chain.
"Meanwhile, we expect Synnex’s profits this year and next year to rise by 6 per cent and 17 per cent year on year respectively thanks to the rise in demand for IT products and the launch of iPhone 12. Investors are advised to buy at a target price of Bt16 per share,” the analyst said.
