Migrant workers carry luggage as they leave for their hometown during the coronavirus lockdown from Bangalore, India, May 16, 2020.Photo:Xinhua

As India eases its lockdown restrictions, Chinese smartphone makers there are striving to reopen their facilities, but their efforts are crippled by stranded workers and disrupted logistics.

India's electronics device sales are slowly climbing back since May 4, when e-commerce firms were allowed to sell all items in the safer orange and green zones less affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Within an hour after midnight on May 4, we received over 10,000 orders via the channels of our official Indian website and e-commerce platforms," Wang Shuo, chief marketing officer of Realme India, told the Global Times on Monday. Realme is a Chinese mobile phone brand. 

Wang said that the company's average daily sales in India have recovered to more than half of the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level, but deliveries are now thwarted by slow logistics. 

"Warehouses are a real problem, because transport controls in red zones are very strict," he said, noting that 20 percent of the brand's after-sales service centers have reopened.

Compared with logistics, workers being stranded in their hometowns pose a bigger problem for smartphone manufacturers.

The top smartphone brand in India - Xiaomi -- told the Global Times on Sunday that its prime problem is getting employees back to work, without giving details.

Wang told the Global Times that only about 25 percent of the employees of Realme India have returned to their posts, while most live in different districts. "We're running short of many smartphone models in India, and we'd really like to get back to work faster, but it's tough to recruit now," he said, noting that the company plans to fully resume work by the end of May.

India's first-quarter smartphone shipments rose 4 percent to 31 million units despite the outbreak of COVID-19, with Chinese brands Xiaomi accounting for a market share of 30 percent, followed by Vivo's 17 percent, Samsung's 16 percent and Realme's 14 percent, according to data from market research firm Counterpoint Research.

Chinese smartphone there actively helped India combat the coronavirus. Indian media Hindustan Times reported in April that Xiaomi would donate 15 million Indian rupees ($1.98 million) toward India's fight against COVID-19.

Wang predicted smartphone sales in India would display a U-shaped trend, and there won't be any significant year-on-year drop if the product layout fits well with market demand.