受疫情因素影响，消费电子行业也难免受到冲击。IDC的数据显示，2020年Q1季度，全球智能手机出货量达2.758亿，同比下降11.7%，创下近几年新低。智能手机行业增速本就处于下滑态势，疫情让智能手机行业的发展更加缓慢。

作为行业的代表公司，苹果的表现更受关注。

Q1季度并非苹果表现最好的季度，正常情况下，苹果表现最好的财报季是每年Q4，新iPhone一般会在Q3季度发布，Q4是销售最旺的季节，到下一年的Q1、Q2会出现下滑。

日前，苹果公司发布了2020年Q1季度财报，从苹果发布的财报来看，疫情对苹果公司的影响究竟有多大呢？

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Bottom line: Apple will continue discounting its iPhones in China to stop its sinking market share, which could slow but not halt its decline in the face of growing competition from the likes of Huawei.

Bottom line: A US prosecutor's decision not to file rape charges against JD.com's founder may bring short-term relief to the stock, but the case still shows the importance of understanding the unusual role Chinese founders play at their companies.

Bottom line: Huawei's new push into India looks like a smart and well-timed move to take advantage of the country's emerging middle class, and could help it take the global smartphone crown by the end of next year.

Bottom line: A Bloomberg report on Chinese government spying microchips in hardware used by Apple, Amazon and others may be flawed, but highlights the potential for such spying due to China's important place in the global supply chain.

As I return to blogging after a couple weeks absence, I wanted to weigh in on an explosive story that ran last week in Bloomberg about tiny spying chips that had been secretly loaded by China's military onto globally used motherboards. Quite a bit has happened ...

Bottom line: Huawei could challenge Samsung for the global smartphone crown in as little as a year, though a potential Achilles heel could be the "outing" of its surging Honor brand that most may not associate with the Chinese parent.

Bottom line:  Xiaomi appears to be gaining confidence of investors through moves like its entry into South Korea, but it will take at least another year to prove it really has the savvy to thrive over the longer term.

Bottom line: Xiaomi's stock is likely to be volatile over the next year and could move broadly downward as investors wait to see if the company's comeback has legs and it can move into higher-end products.

Bottom line: Foxconn's taking of the smartphone manufacturing crown from Samsung reflects the resurgence of Apple and rises of Huawei and Xiaomi, and could ultimately force other brands to use such third-party producers.

Today we'll take a step back from the usual name-brand smartphone rankings to look at a new report that shows that Taiwan's Foxconn (HKEx: 2038) is emerging as one of those "industry leaders you never heard of", quietly supporting some of the fastest-growing names. That's the...

Bottom line: Skidding sales in China's oversaturated smartphone market are long overdue, and could claim Gionee as a first major victim by year-end.

The inevitable is finally happening, and China is showing signs of smartphone burnout. The latest government data is showing that first-quarter smartphone sales in China plunged 26 percent, which is one of the largest drops I can ever recall. In this case we can't really blamed the usual seasonal effect, since this is a quarterly number that incl...

Bottom line: Apple's Tim Cook and other big global CEOs active in China will need to walk a fine line to avoid being forced to take sides in ongoing US-China trade frictions.

Bottom line: Huawei's decision to go ahead with a US market entry for its latest high-end phone, despite collapse of a tie-up with AT&T, is likely to produce very limited results due to lack of a carrier partner.

Huawei goes solo into US

Bottom line: Xiaomi's growing comeback is giving it confidence to launch an IPO plan, as its loss of a trademark case in Europe highlights renewed obstacles it will face in its global expansion.

Xiaomi eyes Hong Kong IPO

Bottom line: Attendance of Google's CEO at China's premier Internet event marks a continuation of its slow return to China, while appearances by top Apple, Qualcomm and Microsoft executives are more expected.

Western tech execs hobnob at Internet conference

As we head into the new week, the headlines are filled with the latest words of wisdom on the future of the Internet from some of China's leading company chiefs, who were all in the scenic city of Wuzhen for a major c...

Bottom line: Apple should be able to extend its return to growth in China into at least one more quarter, while Xiaomi should also be able to continue posting strong double-digit growth for the next year.

Apple returns to China growth

Bottom line: Lenovo's new fund raising and roll-out of a retro commemorative ThinkPad 25th anniversary model show the company is focused on short-term fixes rather than the shock therapy it really needs. 

Lenovo celebrates 25 years of ThinkPad

Bottom line: Huawei could overtake Apple as the world's second largest smartphone seller in the next 1-2 years, while it could also pose a challenge in global cloud services over the next 5 years.

Huawei takes a shot at the cloud

Bottom line: Smartisan's new funding and plans to produce 5-6 smartphones a year look like an anomaly in the highly competitive market, and it's unlikely to survive as a standalone entity over the next 5 years.

Smartisan gets new funding

I was a bit surprised to read that a clear second-tier smartphone player, the uppity Smartisan, has received 100 million yuan ($147 million) in new funding, as we begin the latest week of summer. I haven't seen this company's name or man...

Bottom line: A spat between Hisense and Sharp over the former's use of the latter's brand name spotlights the dangers of relying on such licensing agreements for Chinese companies going abroad.

Sharp sues Hisense over brand agreement

An entertaining battle is rippling through the headlines as we head into mid-week, pitting Taiwanese contract manufacturing titan Hon Hai (Taipei: 2317) against Chinese TV maker Hisense (Shanghai: 600060) in a battle for the Sharp (Tokyo: 67...

Bottom line: Lenovo could reverse its smartphone decline this year under a new leadership team anchored by a respected company veteran, though chances of success are relatively low due to stiff competition and magnitude of the task.

Lenovo nets former Samsung smartphone exec

My first post in the new lunar Year of the Rooster seems like a good time to look at the ultra-competitive smartphone market, and what may lie ahead for the embattled Lenovo (HKEx: 992) as it seeks t...