Smartphone makers bank on online sales, H2 2020 still a pipe dream

Hit by the prolonged lockdown across the country, India’s smartphone makers are eagerly looking forward to a bumper festive season sale that they hope would lift offtake numbers to pre-Covid levels.
 

But with offline trade still struggling and leading Chinese brands lowering their marketing spends, a revival in the second half of 2020 may remain a pipe dream.

After six weeks into the second half, the faltering offline channel, which traditionally rakes in 60 per cent of sales for the market, has become the biggest hurdle towards the path of revival.  Since the countrywide lockdown was lifted in end-May, the