market research agency Omdia released a report saying that in early 2022, panel manufacturers formulated a very radical business plan for laptop display panels with a total of 316 million yuan to meet the needs of major laptop brands' sales plans for a total of 267 million laptops. Every laptop OEM/ODM has also added a 2022 laptop production plan.
However, after February 2022, many changes have occurred in the laptop market, causing notebook brands to decide to lower their annual business plans and notify panel manufacturers to accept the downward revisions.
One is that the laptop inventory in 2022 doubled compared with 2020 and 2021, and all channels have cut orders for laptops.
Figure 1: Comparison of laptop panel supply in the first quarter of 2022 and panel demand brought by laptop brand production
Another is that the Russian-Ukrainian war pushed up the costs of metals, fuel, and food, resulting in inflation in all commodity fields around the world. Consumers are more inclined to stockpile some food and daily necessities rather than buying laptops.
The third one is that due to the impact of the epidemic, laptop inventory and transportation costs have risen. Shanghai and Suzhou have been locked down, which seriously affected the entry of OEM/ODM raw materials into the factory and the exit of products such as notebooks, and the inventory of each party has increased.
In addition, many carriers have also recently increased shipping prices by 6–7 times.
Figure 2: Comparison of laptop panel supply in the second quarter of 2022 and panel demand brought by laptop brand production - Best situation
Figure 3: Comparison of laptop panel supply in the second quarter of 2022 and panel demand brought by laptop brand production - Worst situation
In summary, Omdia expects that all laptop brands will reduce their panel purchases in the second quarter of 2022, and panel purchases in the third quarter will remain sluggish.
