No one is spared the effects of the Coronavirus on the world economy, but according to a report, the laptop industry is suffering more than any other, sinking 40% on average and pulverizing historical records of losses. This, unfortunately, will end up affecting us as well, but in what way?
China, where the COVID-19 originated (or at least where it first appeared) is the engine of the hardware economy, since that’s where practically all components are manufactured. And since they have been the first affected, it is also where the consequences are hardest.
In this case, we are going to analyze a report published on the main laptop manufacturers and how this situation will affect us in the medium term (at least if you intend to buy a laptop, of course).
And it is not to say little, it is to reduce your sales almost in half. Dell and Lenovo have been the only two laptop manufacturers that sold more than a million units during the month of February, leaving the rest of manufacturers such as HP, Asus and Apple below this metric.
According to the report by digitimes, this is because Dell allowed many of its factories to leave “minimal services” for workers during the Coronavirus crisis (and even during the lunar new year holidays), and in the case of Lenovo, because after rising the veto was able to resume 60% of its production very quickly.
For its part, although Asus has not reached the figure of 1 million units sold during the month of February, the report says that they have suffered a lower drop than Dell, putting it close to the Lenovo brand during the month.
As for HP, it seems that it has been the most affected, with a reduction in sales of 50% during the month of February since it has been one of the few that completely closed its factories during the lunar new year holidays – remember that the government forced the companies to close because of the Coronavirus, and in the case of HP, its main laptop factory is in Chongqing, where the authorities have been very rigid about it. With respect to Apple, the statistics are as always more hermetic.
If we stick to the precedents that have been in history when it has happened, for whatever reason, lack of stock, in the end the duck will be paid by users because the result will be that prices will rise. This has always been the case up to now, because when a manufacturer has not made as much money as they expected, they consider it to have had losses when the reality is simply that, that they have earned less than they expected, but have continued to earn (I do not know for you, but for me having “losses” is something quite different).
In any case, the forecast is that once they have their factories running 100% again and get their supplies back to normal, two things can happen:
* That they raise the price of the laptops in an attempt to alleviate the losses.
* They lower the price in an attempt to get rid of the stock envelope.
Whatever happens, what is undeniable is that the Coronavirus is affecting the laptop industry very hard, and in the end it is somewhat uncertain what will happen.