According to the latest research of Omdia’s “Tablet and Laptop Display Panel and OEM Market Tracking Report”, the portable computer panel (The report includes laptops and tablets) will be in 2022. Total shipments reached 479 million units. Not only was this the first time since 2020 that annual shipments fell below 500 million units, but it was also the first time since 2019 that shipments fell 16% year-over-year.
After experiencing rapid growth in the previous three years, the market demand for portable computers will continue to cool down in 2022.
Except for Apple, most portable computer brands will see a double-digit year-on-year decline in panel purchases in 2022. Apple will purchase a total of 99 million portable computer panels in 2022, but it is still a year-on-year decrease of 4%, and Apple has been the largest purchaser of portable computer panels since 2017. Thanks to the strong growth of iPad and MacBook products, Apple’s share of portable computer panel purchases has increased from an average of 17% in the previous year to 21% in 2022, breaking through 20% for the first time. In terms of application products, Apple will purchase 27 million display panels for notebook computers and 72 million display panels for tablet computers in 2022. Apple’s laptop panel suppliers include BOE, LG Display and Sharp.
Lenovo, the world’s second-largest purchaser of portable computer panels, has purchased a total of 55 million units in 2022 after experiencing the impact of slow growth in the tablet PC business, a year-on-year decrease of 29% to 11%. Lenovo procured 45 million display panels for notebooks and 10 million display panels for tablets in 2022. In order to reduce the risk of display panel supplier monopoly, Lenovo has many years of cooperation with all portable computer display panel manufacturers. Recently, Lenovo has continued to deepen cooperation with Chinese display panel suppliers.
In terms of laptop display panels, Lenovo will be the largest purchaser in 2022 with 45 million units, followed by Dell with 35 million units and HP with 33 million units. Hewlett-Packard has been the largest buyer of display panels for notebook computers for many years. Under the policy of strict inventory control and reduced procurement plans, HP will fall from the world’s largest notebook computer panel purchaser in 2022 and relegate to third place. Looking forward to 2023, the overall performance of the global portable computer market is still poor. The procurement strategies of notebook computer display panels of various brands tend to be conservative, and the forecasts are all reduced to the lowest. Guaranteeing and strategically partnering notebook display panel volumes will be a top priority in 2023.
In terms of tablet display panels, Apple’s iPad will be the largest purchaser in 2022 with 72 million units, followed by Samsung with 29 million units, Amazon with 14 million units and Lenovo with 10 million units. The top four tablet panel buyers all saw year-on-year declines in purchases in 2022. After Apple adopts an inventory digestion strategy, the procurement of iPad panels in the first half of 2023 will continue to be weak.
