News Asus Warns PC Shipments Will Drop 10% in Q2

InvalidError

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Covid WFH forced many people and companies to do out-of-cycle or otherwise unneeded upgrades. People are no longer holed up from lock-downs either so entertainment PC sales would be down too. Then you have inflation steering many people's spending from luxury to essential goods. It shouldn't surprise anyone that PC/laptop sales are doing some catch-up on their pre-pandemic yearly sales declines.
 
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watzupken

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I don’t think this comes as a surprise really. COVID pretty much forced people globally to snap up desktops, laptops, tablets, printers, web cams, etc, at an unprecedented rate due to the abrupt fully work/ study from home plans. By now, each household would easily have more computers/ electronic devices than what they normally need since most are back in office/ school physically. So instead of a sustained demand for electronics, the resale market is flooded with electronic devices now. That’s why I feel while supply may still be “tight“, weakening demand will put downward pressure on prices of electronics. Any company selling electronics definitely made a windfall over the last 2 years. But clearly, we are slowly but surely moving back to the norm where they should not expect to make the same revenue/ profit. 10 to 15% decline is really a very conservative number when normal demand is likely a few times lower.
 

Tom Sunday

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It also expects motherboard and graphics card shipments to drop by 10-15% in the current quarter. Crypto crash, Ukraine war, China lockdowns, and inflation are all blamed.

WOW…Asus predicting a 10% downturn in their PC business. Mercury Research calling it a 30% decline in PC shipments for the industry as a whole. That does not bode well. Looking at financial headwinds I do not think that Asus is really concerned about the Ukraine conflict, but more about the future expansionist attitudes of China. Asus is mainly production based in Taiwan and mainland China. It is also seen due to his vast military power and sheer Soviet determination that Putin will ultimately be getting away with his ‘take-back’ of the Ukraine and possibly more of the former lesser known Soviet provinces. Thus naturally enticing and fueling China to jumping onto the bandwagon.

I cannot imagine what a Taiwan PRC interdiction would cause in the worldwide tech-industry! Taiwan is also not a member of the United Nations. Taiwan does not maintain an embassy in the United States, and the United States does not support a Taiwan’s independence. China has made it crystal clear: If Taiwan moves towards independence, China will reclaim Taiwan by force and not relinquish her sovereign right to protect her territorial integrity. All of this said, I wonder what 2023 will bring and park on our doorstep!
 

tek-check

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Markets are saturated anyway. Who would want to buy a laptop every year or every two years anyway?
In the last two years, entire world has been upgrading the gear. This "news" makes me think that vendors would like to create a climate of artificial scarcity to encourage people to buy. yet again.
 

InvalidError

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In the last two years, entire world has been upgrading the gear. This "news" makes me think that vendors would like to create a climate of artificial scarcity to encourage people to buy. yet again.
After almost three years of component shortages, you'd think the industry would welcome a lull in demand to let the supply chains and pricing settle down. Instead, they're panicking at the idea that a demand crash may force them to align prices closer to actual costs to sustain sales.
 
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bolweval

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Markets are saturated anyway. Who would want to buy a laptop every year or every two years anyway?
In the last two years, entire world has been upgrading the gear. This "news" makes me think that vendors would like to create a climate of artificial scarcity to encourage people to buy. yet again.
Agreed, I'm still using a 7 year old Dell laptop and still have no reason to upgrade it.