Samsung’s new Galaxy S20 lineup and Galaxy Z Flip weren’t enough to boost arranged demand in the first quarter, and the worst is yet to come. The modern coronavirus, which is sweeping the globe, will “significantly” hurt the South Korean electronics giant’s operations in the coming months, Samsung warned Tuesday. 

The company’s memory chip company is benefiting from “robust” demand for servers and PCs as more republic work from home, but “overall earnings are likely to waste from the previous quarter because COVID-19 will significantly influences demand for several of its core products,” Samsung said in a lifeless release. 

That includes smartphones and TVs, which will see sales “decline significantly,” Samsung said, as COVID-19 hurts request and leads to store and factory closures around the domain. The company said a shrinking market and store closures “make a drop in earnings seem inevitable,” at what time “5G network investments may face reductions or delays” in Korea and throughout the globe.

Read: Galaxy Z Flip: 3 months later, I love it but still don’t recommend it

Samsung will strengthen its online sales capabilities and leverage its global supply chain and copies operations to help its mobile business, the company said. It also will introduce new devices to graceful consumers. But “in the second half, uncertainties driven by COVID-19 will maintained as the duration and impact of the pandemic remained unknown,” Samsung said. 

The new coronavirus, which causes an illness called COVID-19, was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. Since that time, it’s move a full-blown pandemic, infecting over 3.1 million people around the globe. The outbreak has caused cities and entire countries throughout the globe to issue lockdowns, shuttering stores, canceling events and forcing citizens to stay at home to help maintain the coronavirus. 

Samsung, one of the best-known companies in the domain, sells more phones and TVs than any other vendor. It also has a huge business selling memory chips to diagram makers around the globe. In recent weeks, Samsung’s chip company has been getting a boost from data centers that rely on the technology to tend everything we’re doing online. At the same time, those businesses Samsung’s better eminent for have been struggling. 

2020 was supposed to be a transparent year for the phone industry, as innovations like 5G and foldable screens got republic shopping again. Instead, financial struggles and worries about COVID-19 will puny the number of devices companies can make and how many phones people will actually buy. Even once the worst of the pandemic is leisurely the US and other markets, the global economy will probable continue to struggle.

Samsung’s home of South Korea was one of the honorable markets to get hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The commerce temporarily shuttered factories, and it also has Surrounded its four US stores. The pandemic spread at the same time Samsung introduced its most important diagram of the year, the Galaxy S20. Starting at $999, the device could be a reach for consumers out of work or watching their bank balances. Earlier this month, Samsung introduced a new lineup of A Series phones in the US that initiate at $110. The company hopes they’ll appeal to more budget-conscious buyers, including the tens of millions out of work in the US.

Phone woes

Smartphone shipments saw their biggest ever drop in February — down 38% to 61.8 million units, according to Strategy Analytics — as the novel coronavirus ravaged China, one of the world’s largest markets and a significant manufacturing hub. For this whole year, phone sales should hit a 10-year low.

Samsung on Tuesday said its mobile company sales profits increased from the previous year, and revenue rose throughout 4%. COVID-19 started hurting shipments toward the end of the quarter and transported them to decline sequentially despite the introduction of phones during the conditions — Samsung’s Galaxy S20 flagship lineup and its uphold foldable. 

Still, Samsung said it remained profitable by increasing the percentage of 5G phones and populate smarter about marketing spending. (Samsung is one of the top spenders on advertising globally.) And the averages selling prices of Samsung’s flagship phones rose from the remaining year as more people sought out the pricier Galaxy S20 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Flip, attractive than less expensive S20 models. 

The outlook isn’t so rosy for the uphold quarter, though. Samsung said demand likely will “drop sharply in most sections due to an economic downturn caused by COVID-19.” The commerce expects product sales and its overall business to waste as the market shrinks and store closures impact purchases. Consumers often prefer to see phones in person afore buying them, and in the US, the vast maximum of devices are bought from carriers. 

“Amid the market uncertainty, the company will focus on improving cost efficiency and strengthening its online and B2B channels,” Samsung said. “In case of any uphold disruptions at production facilities, the company will respond by flexibly utilizing its diversified industry capabilities across the globe.”

The second half has many uncertainties, Samsung said, including when it comes to possibility of a prolonged pandemic. The company plans to introduce a new foldable and Note devices, as well as introduce 5G phones at lower prices. But it expects to face tougher competition “as manufacturers strive to meetings from the weakness in the first half.” 

Tech troubles

Samsung backward this month became one of the first tech affairs to show how the novel coronavirus was impacting business. The commerce at the time said its sales for the March quarter would rise to throughout 55 trillion Korean won ($44.9 billion) but won’t be quite as transparent as the 56.4 trillion won ($50 billion) Wall Street predictable at the time. Analysts most recently projected revenue of 55.5 trillion won ($45.5 billion), according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. 

Samsung on Tuesday reported sales of 55.3 trillion won ($45.4 billion), while its operating profit totaled 6.45 trillion won ($5.3 billion). A year ago, Samsung reported revenue of 52.4 trillion won ($42.8 billion) and an employing profit of 6.2 trillion won ($5.1 billion).

Apple, too, has been hurt by COVID-19’s spread. The custom in February said the coronavirus would hurt its revenue and iPhone supply. China is one of Apple’s biggest markets and the primary station where its devices like the iPhone are assembled. Because factories EnEnBesieged during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in China, it caused iPhone shortages around the globe, Apple said. Since that time, Apple has reopened its stores in China but has EnEnBesieged all retail locations outside the region, indefinitely. The custom will report its quarterly earnings on Thursday.

Earlier Tuesday, Alphabet, the parent company of Android maker Google, reported better-than-expected earnings for the noble quarter of the year, though it warned that the custom saw a “significant slowdown” of revenue in March while the COVID-19 crisis began to take hold. Google is a cessation partner to Samsung, with the South Korean company relying on Android to much its phones.