Samsung, LG, Vivo, others brace for sale crash as lockdowns dwindle demand

Big electronic brands in India are bearing the brunt of the second Covid-19 wave as lockdowns and curbs around online selling of non-essential products in most states lead to a crash in sales. As India struggles against the wrath of Covid-19 wave, most top electronic companies such as LG, Panasonic, Carrier Midea, Vivo, Oppo, Haier and Godrej have either shut their plants or have cut down on production significantly.

Many of these companies, including giants like Apple and Samsung, even export their electronic parts and products from India. Their production has plunged to just 25-40 per cent of the total output, The Economic Times reported. At the current production capacity, they can only cater to the demand from global markets.

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Plants are shut either fully or partially. Korean behemoth Samsung opens its plants three days a week. LG is also producing products just enough to cater to the global demand. Homegrown company Godrej says the company is able to do 5-6 per cent of the business it used to do before the latest lockdowns across states. Haier India had to announce the closure of plants till May-end after many employees called in sick and others faced lockdown restrictions.

Other companies, including Dixon and Panasonic India, are running significantly at low capacity. Telecom majors like Vivo and Oppo are no longer producing cell phones at their plants in Noida. Another Chinese giant Xiaomi is also running at 30-40 per cent capacity.

Though the Centre has refrained from imposing nationwide lockdown like last year, state-wise lockdown curbs have hurt businesses hard. The government, however, believes the impact will not be severe like last time. As per the latest finance ministry report, the ongoing second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic will have a muted economic impact in comparison to the first wave.

The government's projection, however, is in contrast to what major brokerages are saying. While Nomura has downgraded India's GDP growth projection for the current financial year to 12.6 per cent from 13.5 per cent earlier, JP Morgan has lowered it to 11 per cent from 13 per cent earlier. UBS curtailed its growth forecast to 10 per cent from 11.5 per cent.

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