The share of online sales is rising when it comes to smartphones. In 2020, the online sales share of handsets increased globally due to Covid-19, with 1 in 4 handsets being sold online. And India, as predicted, was on top with 45% of total sales effected through online purchases.
These numbers emerged in Counterpoint Research’s recently published 'Global Online Smartphone Market Growth and Trends, H2 2020, report'.
The report said that in global terms, online sales accounted for about 26% share in 2020.
Quite evidently, the Covid-19 pandemic had a big role in this change in consumer behaviour as most countries had lockdown restrictions.
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But the trend of high online sales may slow down
The share of online handset sales in 2020 increased by nearly 6% points compared to the previous year, while it increased by more than 10% in terms of market size, the report said. This trend was strong not only in advanced markets such as the US and Europe but also in emerging markets such as India and Latin America.
While India showed the highest online share at 45%, it was followed by the UK at 39% and China at 34%.
"In China, where the spread of Covid-19 first occurred, it peaked in the first half and softened slightly in the second half, while the US and India recorded the highest ever online share in the second half of 2020," the report said.
As it happened, the report claimed that this trend of increasing online share will slow down for some time, and this year will be similar to the previous year or slightly lower.
Senior Analyst Sujeong Lim said, “After the rapid growth in 2020, we expect 2021 to see some easing after the Covid-19 vaccination. However, it is expected to grow slightly every year from 2022 onwards, supported by growth in emerging markets and the middle-aged population becoming more accustomed to IT devices and internet use.”
In the case of India, he said, it may decrease to a certain level after 2022 due to the development of offline infrastructure such as multi-brand stores and large-scale retail stores.
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