Tough conditions in phone industry due to supply chain disruption in China: ICEA

The comments come at a time when the death toll in China's novel coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 1,113 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province while the confirmed cases of infection jumped to 44,653. A significant majority of cases are in mainland China.

New Delhi:The phone industry in India is facing an unprecedented and tough situation as its supply chain, which is heavily dependent on China, is getting "badly impacted", mobile and electronics industry body ICEA said on Wednesday.

The comments come at a time when the death toll in China's novel coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 1,113 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province while the confirmed cases of infection jumped to 44,653. A significant majority of cases are in mainland China.

"This is an absolutely unprecedented situation the industry is helpless," India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said at an event, Digital Radio Vision for India.

Mohindroo further said supply chain management is getting "badly impacted" but noted that a handful of plants in China have now received permission to open.

China plays a major role in the Indian electronics industry as India imports a major part of the components from its northern neighbour. In the case of smartphones too, majority of the components are imported from China.

Reports suggested on Tuesday that one of the large contract manufacturers and component suppliers has resumed operations in one of its plants in China, although it was operating with only a small fraction of its workforce.

The coronavirus outbreak and its perceived risk has cast a shadow on the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC), the largest mobile event and the industry's flagship annual congregation.

Heavyweights like Ericsson, Amazon, Sony and others have said they are withdrawing from the event that is scheduled to take place in Barcelona from February 24-27.

India's largest smartphone vendor Xiaomi also added that extended shutdown in China due to the coronavirus outbreak is likely to hit supply chain, and that there is a risk of impact on component supplies.

(Inputs from PTI and IANS)