DowDuPont Says It Took Q1 Hit From ‘High Teens’ Decline in Premium Smartphones 

“Organic sales” in DowDuPont’s Electronics & Imaging sector declined 6 percent in Q1 from “soft smartphone demand,” said Marc Doyle, chief operating officer-specialty products, on an earnings call Thursday. Smartphone materials are about 25 percent of the sector’s sales, “and while we sell to all smartphone providers, our portfolio is more exposed to premium models.” which were estimated to have declined “in the high teens” for the quarter, he said. “We continue to expect a rebound in the second half, driven by the seasonal introduction of new models with upgraded features and offerings, including higher penetration of OLED screens and initial models with 5G capability both benefiting our sales.” It “obviously would be nice to resolve” the Section 301 tariff issue because that “would play out very nicely over the next few years for us in China,” said CEO Edward Breen. “I'm a big believer that consumer confidence will sit pretty bad by that issue” if not resolved, he said.