Samsung smartphone production will be more than halved this month due to the pandemic. The Elec reports they typically produce 25 million handsets in April, will reduce this figure to about 10 million handsets - a 60 percent drop.

The Elec - Samsung Electronics is set to produce just over 10 million smartphones in April 2020, which is about half of its previous monthly average of around 25 million handsets, according to Samsung suppliers on April 13.

Annually, Samsung produces up to 300 million handsets. "There is still quite a bit of inventory left over from March due to the coronavirus, and plants in India and Brazil have been shut down as well,” said one source, explaining the reasoning behind the cut. “Logistics alone, it doesn’t make sense to churn out more than necessary.”

Samsung usually produces the bulk of handsets during the first quarter of the year to secure enough inventory. Then, the company places further orders depending on demand after April. Therefore, it usually produces less than the monthly average for the first quarter during the month of April.

But this April, production may be even lower than usual due to the sluggish global economic conditions triggered by the virus outbreak.

“Samsung Electronics plans to bring production volume back to normal in May after its plants in India and Brazil are normalized,” said another source. “But it may take longer than expected for things to get back on track.”

Samsung halves production of smartphones In April, due to Coronavirus