The damage was great because of Covid-19, but this is why Apple can still be considered luckier than its competitors

Like all other smartphone brands, the Covid-19 epidemic is causing serious damage to Apple. A series of factories in China have been closed for a long time, Apple Store stores in China and around the world took turns to close, the “iPhone 9” launch schedule may have been pushed back and the Headquarter staff (California) has also been recommended to work from home.

But compared to other rivals, Apple is still quite lucky. And here are 3 lucky things to help Apple in the epidemic season:

1. The “iPhone season” is over

When nCovid-19 exploded early in the year, Apple was able to close the successful business quarter of the iPhone 11.

Few people remember that in the first years the iPhone was usually uncovered in June, not September as it is today. The reason why Tim Cook changed this launch schedule right after taking over as CEO is so wise: the iPhone that opens in September will retain a bigger attraction in the fourth quarter, which is the biggest shopping season near. like all markets across the globe.

iPhone 11 is no exception. In the fourth quarter, the latest generation of iPhones brought Apple $ 56 billion, or more than the total revenue of all Samsung businesses in the same quarter. In terms of revenue and profit, Apple crushes all Android rivals.

According to epidemiologists in the US, the Covid-19 epidemic in the country will peak in April; Italy and Spain are also approaching this time. The plague in China peaked in the first quarter. Last year, Q1 and Q2 were also the two quarters with the lowest iPhone sales in the whole year.

Opening the top table in the first 3 months of the year, Android brands had to “absorb” the negative effects of the disease.

Therefore, Apple will obviously be negatively affected because of Covid-19 but it can not be seriously affected as competitors. According to data from Strategy Analytics, smartphones shipped globally declined by 40% in February, showing the horrific effect of Covid-19 on the mobile industry. For Apple, this effect only occurred in a less important business quarter, and for Android manufacturers, Covid-19 happened right in the key season: Samsung’s Galaxy S20, Xiaomi’s Mi 10, P40 Pro Huawei and Find X2 of OPPO both debuted during the epidemic season.

The first few months of launch are always the best-selling months. In other words, the top Android lines have been stolen by Covid-19. Leaks from South Korea indicate that sales of the Galaxy S20 models are only 60% of that of the S10, and if the high-end Android king has been so badly affected, it is clear that Chinese companies cannot rely on them either. A future too bright for our 2020 top lines.

2. Service will definitely take the throne

It can be said that the fiscal year 2019 is not the year of the iPhone, but the Internet services. When the iPhone XS sales disappointed, the service became Apple’s ultimate when it grew sharply to make up for the iPhone. Entering the fiscal year 2020 (Q4 / 2019), the service has surpassed all hardware segments except iPhone, even as high as both Mac and iPad combined.

During the season, Apple is the only smartphone brand that has a service ecosystem to keep up with user demand.

As people in countries recommended for social isolation, the demand for Internet services will obviously increase. YouTube and Netflix have both announced a reduction in resolution to meet the isolation season entertainment needs. Many hit movies are speeding up their release days online. It is not difficult to recognize, certainly the demand for Apple TV +, Apple Music or Apple News + will soon increase.

It is worth mentioning that, except Google – which is a service company, no other Android manufacturer has the Internet service segment like Apple. Even Xiaomi, which boasted itself as an “Internet company,” only had 9% of its revenue ($ 750 million, or 1/16 of Apple in the same quarter of 3/19) coming from network apps and services. Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, Samsung … have not even “show” their service sales as Xiaomi. So, in the time of social isolation, only a single smartphone manufacturer can use revenue. service to make up for hardware revenue: Apple.

3. Opportunities for iPad

The trend of isolating and working from home can leverage the tablet market, where Apple is leading the market.

The reason the iPad caused a “earthquake” when it debuted 10 years ago was due to the true vision of Steve Jobs: home users do not need a complicated device like a PC. Instead of bulky and inconvenient laptops, a compact tablet is just enough for the needs of surfing the web, entertainment and doing office tasks without requiring too much computing power.

As more and more people work from home or social isolation, demand for tablets will surely increase, and Apple will be in the best position to take advantage of this trend: by the end of 2019. , iPad remains the No. 1 position in the global tablet market.