The sales of smartphones in Romania surged robustly by 20% in the first two months of the year, compared to the same period last year.

However, they plunged suddenly by 50% in annual terms in the last days of March - during the first week of the lockdown period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, when the shopping malls were closed.

The dynamic, namely a sharp 50% contraction in the sales of smartphones, has maintained in April, despite online shopping becoming increasingly popular, according to Ziarul Financiar data.

The plunge came in the context of hundreds of thousands of employees in Romania losing their jobs and nearly one million seeing their revenues trimmed down while in technical unemployment.

editor@romania-insider.com

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