The improvement in sales caused by the pandemic and the various containment measures is only a distant memory for the laptop. The latest TrendForce forecasts thus report a generally gloomy 2022/2023 year for the laptop giants.
War in Ukraine, galloping inflation and an overall drop in demand should lead the laptop PC market to unscrew at the end of 2022. For the fourth quarter of 2022, the latest estimates from TrendForce predict a drop in shipments of 7.2% compared to the third quarter of 2022, and even a real decline, of 32.3%, if we compare the 42.9 million units which should leave the factories at the end of 2022 with those which had been distributed in 2021 over the same period.
A whole market that is slowing down…
This decline can also be measured by comparing the annual figures with those of the previous year. TrendForce predicts a total of “only” 189 million units shipped this year. This is 23% less than for the whole of 2021, relays TechPowerUp.
To this assessment must be added doubts as to production capacities. China and its drastic “zero-Covid” health policy regularly force major production sites to close, or at least to operate in slow motion. The global geopolitical and economic situation is also pushing consumers to be cautious, which inevitably impacts demand at the end of the chain.
… but remaining solid in certain segments
For 2023, TrendForce’s forecasts are therefore not good. The analyst firm does not see, at this stage, any signs pointing to a strong comeback of the laptop PC market. The sector should on the contrary continue to nose dive with a drop in shipments of 6.9% compared to 2022 according to the firm, which evokes a total of 176 million units distributed next year.
Fortunately, all is not lost. Laptop manufacturers can count on at least two segments in particular, says TechPowerUp : gaming laptops and models dedicated to creation. These two types of machines should continue to offer good results next year, in the same way as the Chromebooks. As far as they are concerned, TrendForce even evokes a slight rebound in 2023: 16.2 million units should thus be shipped in the second quarter of 2023, against only 14.44 million during the second quarter of 2022.
Source : TechPowerUp
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