Hong Kong (CNN Business) China's smartphone market, the biggest in the world, is set for a massive plunge due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Smartphone shipments in China will likely fall 40% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same period last year, according to a new report from research firm IDC.

That means Chinese consumers will buy 33 million fewer phones in the first three months of the year, according to Will Wong, an analyst with IDC.

When IDC updated its forecast last year, "we were only expecting a 5% drop" in the first quarter of 2020, Wong said.

"Even with a potential March recovery it will still be difficult to reach last year's levels" for the first quarter, he added.

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