In July, August and September 2020, the total cell phone market increased by 10% compared to the same period in 2019. According to the study IDC Brazil Mobile Phone Tracker Q3 / 2020, from the leader in market intelligence, consultancy and conferences with the Information Technology and Telecommunications industries, 13.4 million smartphones and 745,200 feature phones were sold in the period, an increase of 14% and a decrease of 26%, respectively. This figure includes sales in the gray market, which sold 1.2 million smartphones and 35,400 feature phones, down 4% and 76% compared to the same period in 2019. Revenue was 48% higher and registered R$ 20.5 billion .
According to Renato Murari Meireles, research analyst and consultant in Mobile Phones & Devices at IDC Brasil, the market recovered better than expected in the third quarter of 2020. In this period, the analyst considers that actions such as emergency aid helped to inject money in the economy and may have reflected in consumption. In addition, it was a shopping period that should have happened in the second quarter. “The demand that was repressed in the months of April, May and June, due to the closing of trade, resumed from July to September“, Explains Renato.
There was movement in e-commerce, but, according to him, the Brazilian still has the culture of going to the physical store to see the product before buying. The pandemic has also strengthened the use of technology and increased the need for and use of smartphones. “Brazilians used more applications and streaming services, for example, and we noticed the search for smartphones with better performance. The videoconferences held for work were also a reason to look for more powerful devices“, He evaluates.
According to the IDC Brasil study, revenue and the average price of cell phones also increased in the third quarter of 2020, due to two factors: the rise in the dollar, 35% more expensive than in the same period in 2019, and launches with specifications more robust. “The dollar went from R$ 3.97 in the third quarter of 2019 to R$ 5.38 in the third quarter of 2020. This affected the entire technology ecosystem. Therefore, the increase was not so aggressive in cell phone volume, but in revenue“. Smartphones cost an average of R$ 1.5 thousand and feature phones, R$ 145, up 30% and 32% respectively.
The analyst says that the IDC projection for this period was less expressive. “The pandemic was challenging, but it brought different movements to the market, such as emergency aid, new products, in addition to increasing the perception of the need and usability of the technology. However, the period was also marked by the lack of components ”, he explains.
Data for the fourth quarter of 2020 have not yet been consolidated and the dollar remained a challenge, but IDC Brasil's expectation is that the market has continued to recover with the reopening of stores and sales on Black Friday and Natal.
