The sale of computer equipment is down, it is something that is not a secret for those who follow the sector. However, the percentage with which it was affected lfor the sale of laptops is much higher than expected. How have the different manufacturers been impacted and what are the consequences in the sector?
A common tactic of manufacturers in lean times is to focus on the high ranges and drop the lower ranges. This is due to the drop in the level of consumption of the most modest pockets and to the increase in costs. In the end, manufacturers seek to have positive balance sheets, even if this is based on a drop in the level of sales or a temporary reduction in market share and with it their future supply.
Sale of laptops down 22%
The analysis firm Canalys carried out a market study where a discouraging panorama is presented in terms of sales of laptops and which could slow down the roadmaps. In addition, we know that some other manufacturers have canceled products in the short to medium term due to the fact that the stock keeps emptying at the expected rate. And it is that the planning of the launch of new devices is very important, since they can conflict with other existing ones.
The big problem is that you can’t sell an inferior product for the same price, which forces you to cut it and with it the profits. That is why manufacturers of any type of computer device first try to sell as much as possible of what is there. What’s the bad news? Well, things like the fact that laptop sales are down 22% year-over-year when comparing Q3 2021 numbers to Q3 2022 numbers. and broken down by manufacturer, it can be considered the only company that grew year over year was Apple.
| Maker | Shipments in Q3 2021 | Shipments in Q3 2022 | Annual growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | 1.9 million | 2.3 million | 20.4% |
| Asus | 1.2 million | 0.9 million | -24.4% |
| Dell | 2.3 million | 1.9 million | -18.9% |
| resume | 4.4 million | 2.7 million | -36.9% |
| Lenovo | 4.1 million | 3.1 million | -24.1% |
It is necessary to underline the hard blow in the sales that Hewlett Packard suffered, which was one of the reasons for the announcement of redundancy plans for 6,000 workers of the multinational. Generally speaking, the sector is not living its best moment and this affects not only the workers, but also the future product lines, not announced, but which have been quietly removed.
Gaming PCs remain stable in Europe
At the same time, and as usually happens in a recession, the sale of equipment at low prices ends up being the most affected of all. Taking the information from the UK, France and Germany, it can be seen that the only sector that has not suffered worse sales globally across Europe is gaming PCs at higher of $1,000, which increased by 6%. However, if we talk about systems below 500 dollars, then we will see that their sales drop by half.
The reason for this is simple, the rising cost of hardware has reduced the supply of computers below that price and these are not good enough to meet user needs. It’s no longer a matter of crisis, it’s that the low end of home PCs has been migrating to a much higher price segment for a long time.
