Extract, to read the full article please see: https://theaseanpost.com/article/pandemic-hits-smartphone-market-hard

Plunged Demand

According to a recent report by GfK, in January to July 2020, the smartphone market value in the Asia-Pacific region declined by 20 percent to just over US$119 billion – almost US$30 billion less than the same period last year. 

“The region’s smartphone market was hardest hit in the second quarter when many countries here entered lockdown mode. This was also when we started observing new trends emerging and the corresponding shifts in consumer demand for durable goods,” explained Alexander Dehmel, Market Insights Lead APAC at GfK.

The report stated that although Taiwan managed to turn in marginal growth at one percent, the rest of the 15 markets reported declines in market value; Indonesia (-4 percent), Thailand (-7 percent), India and Singapore (both -42 percent).

“Supply and demand of smartphones plunged in China, slumped across Asia, and slowed in the rest of the world. It is a period the smartphone industry will want to forget,” said Neil Mawston, executive director at research firm, Strategy Analytics. 

Another key observation from the GfK study is that the COVID-19 pandemic has altered consumer spending on smartphones. Findings on the region’s smartphone market from the first half of 2020 showed the rising popularity of models from the entry and low to mid-range segments that offer good features at affordable prices.

Market analyst firm Canalys also reported that worldwide smartphone shipments had dropped 13 percent in May 2020 from the same time last year.

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LAULY LI and CHENG TING-FANG, Nikkei staff writers August 26, 2020 16:22 JST, Updated on August 26, 2020 17:08 JST

Joint declaration bolsters ‘Clean Network’ initiative as Huawei fights for future

TAIPEI — Taiwan and the U.S. on Wednesday issued a joint declaration on 5G security, strengthening their cooperation under Washington’s “Clean Network” initiative to block major Chinese tech companies including Huawei.

The joint declaration — announced by officials from the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy on the self-ruled democratic island, and top officials from Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry and National Communication Commission — comes amid warming ties between the two governments and an ever-icier tech cold war between the U.S. and China.

One of the key battlegrounds in that conflict is fifth generation or 5G telecommunications technology. Fast and low-latency 5G networks promise to drive advances on everything from autonomous cars to drones and sophisticated military hardware. Citing alleged national security threats, Washington has been lobbying other countries to exclude Chinese companies from these sensitive networks, especially Huawei but also the likes of ZTE.

Excerpt

The joint declaration announced on Wednesday calls for “rigorous” evaluation of 5G hardware and software suppliers. It lists several criteria for judging such companies: whether they are subject “to control by a foreign government,” whether they are “financed openly and transparently,” whether they have “transparent ownership, partnerships, and corporate governance structures,” and whether they have “a commitment to innovation and respect for intellectual property rights.”

“Protecting these next-generation communications networks from disruption or manipulation as well as the privacy and individual liberties are vital to ensuring our economies are able to take advantage of the tremendous economic opportunities 5G will enable,” the statement reads.

The AIT’s Christensen, speaking at the MAPECT 2020 International Investment Forum in Taipei, called for “ensuring countries like China do not hold supply chains hostage for political purposes” and for “working with like-minded partners, including Taiwan, Japan and the European Union and others, to develop new supply chains based on shared values, standards, environmental, and labor practices.”

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A majority of Taiwanese are not inclined to switch to 5G service within the next six months, as most of them are waiting for the cost to drop, an online poll released on Thursday by 1111 Job Bank (111人力銀行) showed.

The nation’s three major telecoms have launched 5G services over the past two months.

The average cost of a monthly data plan is NT$1,399, almost twice the average NT$703 most consumers are prepared to pay, the poll found.

The survey found that 52.8 percent of respondents are not considering applying for 5G service in the near future, with 31 percent of them naming cost as the main deterrent.

People are also not motivated to switch to 5G service, because they think 4G is adequate for their personal use (24.9 percent), they are concerned that 5G base stations might not have enough coverage (21 percent) and the devices they own do not support 5G (18.8 percent), the poll found.

Read more at: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2020/08/24/2003742174

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