Asian disease epidemics can be poison for consumer electronics sales. The big SARS scare of 2003 had a major impact on Chinese handset volumes. In April of the year SARS swept the East, Chinese
phone sales abruptly declined by nearly 10%, violently reversing the month-on-month sales growth of March. Back then, China was such a small part of worldwide phone sales that the spring swoon
did not have much of a global impact. 10 years later, China’s role in global handset market is far greater, and the consumer reaction to a new epidemic could move the needle on worldwide shipment volumes.
Continue reading…