The smartphone market was estimated to be worth £6.52 billion in 2019, marking a minor decrease on the previous year. 2020 will be much more challenging though, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. In an early indication of the challenges facing the industry, Apple said in February that the virus caused issues in the production of its latest iPhones as a result of factory closures in China, with other manufacturers reporting similar problems. Handset shipments have no doubt been impacted in the short term, and market value will suffer as a result, although at the time of writing production is starting to pick up again and the second half of the year should be less challenging on this front.

Even if supply chain issues are managed, though, the industry will face even greater challenges in the second half of the year as a result of the distribution and economic disruption that the COVID-19 outbreak will cause. Although many sales are made online, the industry is still heavily dependent on high street retailers to showcase handsets. From a demand perspective, the industry was resilient during the last slowdown, but high unemployment and stretched consumer incomes will inevitably mean a lengthening of the replacement cycle, and a temptation to switch to budget or mid-range handsets, rather than flagship models.

5G network coverage and the number of 5G-capable smartphones available has been growing over the last year, and 2020 was expected to be the year when the new technology kick-started renewed growth in the market. The roll-out will inevitably be delayed as a result of the coronavirus, but assuming normality returns in 2021, we can expect the expected 5G boost to kick in then. Our consumer showed growth in intention to upgrade their phones in the next two years from 61% in 2019 to 63% in 2020 before the impact of the virus arrived, highlighting the desire people continue to have for the latest smartphone technology. That desire won’t go away even if those upgrade intentions are dampened in the short term.

• The short, medium and long-term impact of COVID-19 on the mobile phones market.

• How the market will look post COVID-19 and how consumer habits will have changed.

• Launch activity and innovation from the major smartphone manufacturers.

• Types of smartphone owned by consumers, as well as attitudes towards the major brands.

• Opinions on emerging form factors like foldable devices and smartphones with physical keyboards.

This Report covers the UK consumer market for mobile phones. Mobile phones are defined as any device being used to place or receive calls by connecting to a mobile network. “Basic mobile phones” and “Feature phones” are terms used to describe non-smartphones.

Smartphones are defined as any portable computer capable of making calls, sending and receiving data (either over a mobile or Wi-Fi network) and downloading, installing and running applications from an app store.

Foldable smartphones are devices that can be opened inwards or outwards to reveal a bigger screen.

Market value data in this Report includes sales of feature phones and smartphones to consumers, and is based on the full retail selling price of handsets rather than the amount paid by consumers on post-pay contracts.