Smartphone application processor (AP) shipments to China only amounted to 135 million units in first-quarter 2020, plunging more than 30% on quarter and 12.2% on year.

Smartphone shipments to the China market in first-quarter 2020 plunged 51.9% from the prior quarter to reach the lowest single-quarter shipment volumes in recent years, as the market was influenced by slow season and the coronavirus outbreak.

According to Digitimes Research's statistics and analyses, first-quarter 2020 global server shipments are estimated to come to 3.65 million units, representing a 16.9% on-quarter drop.

Global notebook shipments in the first quarter of 2020 dropped 27.6% on quarter and 10.9% on year. The yearly decline was the worst for the Taiwan's notebook industry since first-quarter 2016.

The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in labor shortages and shipment disruptions in China's supply chain, but Digitimes Research believes if the epidemic gets under control, China-based top-4 smartphone brands' shipments are expected to drop 19.5% on year in the first quarter of 2020, while smartphone AP shipments to China will fall 11.4% on year during the period.

Smartphone AP shipments to China-based vendors came to 197 million units, down 5.9% on year and 7.7% on quarter.

The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted production and weakened consumer confidence, with all ICT sectors bracing for major declines in shipments. Digitimes Research has conducted analyses on three mobile device sectors, namely notebooks, smartphones and tablets in the wake of the outbreak. The Special Report offers the latest updates about production statuses and shipments outlook for 2020 for each of the three sectors.

The tablet sector is witnessing better capacity recovery than the notebook and handset sectors.

The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in labor shortage and shipment disruption in China's supply chain.

Global tablet shipments amounted to 43.23 million units in fourth-quarter 2019 as white-box vendors had excess inventory, causing their shipments for the quarter to weaken, while brand vendors saw the momentum from the third quarter continue into fourth-quarter shipments.

Taiwan's notebook shipments slipped 4.4% sequentially, but grew 3.1% on year to arrive at 32.37 million units in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Global server shipments went up 13.4% sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2019 thanks to rising demand from US large datacenter companies and China's server market. However, shipments in the first quarter of 2020 are expected to be affected by China's coronavirus outbreak.