Market Trends - Stats

Gartner: -14% Decline for Devices in 2020

2020-05-27T15:47:27Z

According to Gartner, global device (PCs, tablets and mobile phones) shipments are set to reach 1.9 billion units in 2020, a decline by -13.6% brought about by the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) pandemic.

“The forecasted decline in the PC market in particular could have been much worse,” the analyst says. “However, government lockdowns due to Covid-19 forced businesses and schools to enable millions of people to work from home and increase spending on new notebooks, Chromebooks and tablets for those workers. Education and government establishments also increased spending on those devices to facilitate e-learning.”

GfK: Europeans Turn to CE During Lockdown

2020-04-28T16:09:51Z

According to GfK, the current lockdowns have lead to consumers buying of all manner of CE, from PCs and notebooks to TVs and gaming consoles, as Europeans look for means to both work and play during the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) pandemic.

However, one has to keep in mind many stores are closed, and online sales cannot fully offset the "significant" losses in the big 5 European markets-- Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. That said, GfK points out consumers are looking for means to cope with life during this "new normal," and retailers and manufacturers need to understand what purchases are preponed and postponed in order to secure the relevant and essential assortment.

In terms of "extraordinary" sales spikes, working from home has driven up sales of monitor (120% Y-o-Y), printers (68% Y-o-Y), notebooks (62% Y-o-Y) and keyboards (61% Y-o-Y) in the 5 major European markets during the 4 weeks starting from 7 March to 5 April 2020 (weeks 11 to 14 of the pandemic). Webcams see the biggest sales growth at 297% Y-o-Y. Meanwhile the stockpiling of groceries has lead to more purchases of freezers and refrigerators. In Great Britain, freezer sales are up by 317% Y-o-Y, and in Germany such sales are up by 185% Y-o-Y. France also sees freezer sales growth of 44% Y-o-Y.

Gartner: Coronavirus Leads to PC Decline

2020-04-15T15:46:00Z

According to Gartner, global PC shipments total 51.6 million units in Q1 2020-- a -12.3% Y-o-Y decline, the sharpest since 2013, and the direct result of the coronavirus pandemic after three consecutive quarters of growth.

The decline, of course, affect the EMEA market as shipments are down by -7% Y-o-Y to 16.8m units. Gartner says such decline is likely to continue throughout 2020, as the end of Q1 2020 saw a dramatic drop in both business and consumer PC purchases due to intense coronavirus lockdown measures across various countries in the region.

“The single most significant influencing factor for PC shipment decline was the coronavirus outbreak, which resulted in disruptions to both the supply and demand of PCs,” the analyst says. “Following the first lockdown in China in late January, there was lower PC production volume in February that turned into logistics challenges."

Context: Coronavirus Drives Accessory Growth

2020-04-08T15:56:30Z

Webcams, headsets, software and notebooks-- the categories seeing the biggest increase in channel revenue across W. Europe, Context reports, as home working and schooling forces "major" changes in demand.

According to the analyst, the four weeks ending 22 March 2020 see the biggest Y-o-Y revenue increase for webcams (127%). Following are headsets and microphones (76%). Notebook also see strong 36% Y-o-Y growth in Q2 2020, with sales surging particularly in March across both business and consumer markets. Context says Y-o-Y growth during the first 3 weeks of March 2020 total nearly 56% for business notebooks, and 44% in consumer space.

Context: Coronavirus Drives W. European PC Sales

2020-04-02T09:35:31Z

According to Context, PC sales through the largest W. European distributors are up by 38% Yo-Y on the first 3 weeks of March, as the spread of the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) drives demand for remote-working hardware.

The demand for home-office equipment has lead to 51% Y-o-Y sales growth of notebooks, and a 9% rise in desktops. The increase is greater for business-targeted products, since commercial notebook sales are up by 56% Y-o-Y compared to 44% for consumer-targeted products. The difference is more stark in desktops, with a 16% Y-o-Y increase in just the business-targeted segment.

IDC: Expect AR/VR Headset Rebound in H2 2020

2020-03-24T17:09:29Z

According to IDC, the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) outbreak is disrupting global shipments of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) headset, leading to a Q1 2020 decline of -10.5% Y-o-Y, followed by a 24.1% Y-o-Y drop in Q2 2020.

However, production should wrap up by midyear, leading to a rebound on H2 2020 and shipments of nearly 7.1 million units for full-year 2020, a 23.6% increase over 2019. As such, the analyst predict strong long-term growth for the headset market, with shipments growing to 76.7m units by 2024 with a CAGR of 81.5%.

"Much of the supply chain for AR and VR headsets is shared with smartphones and PCs and many of these products are facing supply constraints as factories are operating at much lower capacity resulting in component shortages," the analyst remarks. "However, the spread of the virus is having the opposite effect on demand as an increasing number of consumers and employees stay indoors and look to AR and VR solutions for ways to collaborate with colleagues and entertain themselves and their families."

A CONTEXT Retrospective at DISTREE 2020

2020-03-18T16:50:22Z

The DISTREE 2020 keynote by CONTEXT global managing director Adam Simon gives retrospective on the channel in 2019-- the year of Windows 10, as the OS gives a huge boost to the PC market and related industries.

The channel sees 3.3% growth in 2019, "very solid" results with desktop PCs growing by an impressive 10.7%. The mobile computing category is up by 4.7%, while "other" categories follow at 2.7%. Many new categories, such as smart home and wearables, are also growing at a high rate, while telecoms are facing a slowdown. This is due to one main reason, which is the drop of Huawei smartphone sales through the channel. The printing category remains on the decline, as are some enterprise categories including storage.

Futuresource: Coronavirus Hits CE Supply Chain

2020-03-10T17:21:39Z

As the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) affects over 100000+ people across 80 countries, Futuresource predicts poor results for the global CE industry in Q1 2020, with supply chain chain disruptions leading to difficulties in product delivery.

The analyst says the problem may extend into Q2 2010, but pent-up demand might somewhat, if not wholly, compensate for the difficulties experienced in H1 2020. Consumption patterns should shift their seasonality. However, Futuresource says the CE market will see a full year revenue decline of -2-5% in 2020.

In the long term, Futuresource says CE makers should look into diversifying supply chains, as the coronavirus highlights the risks associated with over-reliance on Chinese manufacturing.

IDC Lowers PCD Forecast Due to Coronavirus

2020-03-05T15:56:38Z

The ongoing spread of the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) leads IDC to lower its 2020 forecast for personal computing devices (PCDs)-- predicting global shipments will drop by -9% to 374.2 million units.

The PCD forecast covers desktops, notebooks, workstations and tablets. It suggests numbers will improve on the long-term, if slightly, as shipments should should reach 377.2m by 2024 with a 5-year CAGR of 0.2%. The 2020 decline is the result of two significant factors. The coronavirus has already been mentioned, but one also has to keep in mind the Windows 7 to Windows 10 transition creates tougher Y-o-Y growth comparisons.

Gartner: "Slight" Recovery for Devices in 2020

2020-01-22T16:25:26Z

Global shipments of devices-- PCs, tablets and mobile phones-- are set to total 2.16 billion units in 2020, Gartner reports, a "slight recovery" of 0.9% over 2019 shipments reaching 2.15bn units.

One driver for such improvement is the increased availability of 5G smartphones. In fact, the analyst predicts the global mobile phone market will grow by 1.7% in 2020, if thanks to Greater China and emerging markets in Asia/Pacific. 5G models should account for 12% of 2020 mobile phone shipments, before reaching 43% in 2022 as prices decrease, 5G coverage increases and customers have better experience with such devices.