The tablet computer market is hot, and it is hard to find multiple models. What happened?
In recent years, smart phones have become more and more complete and their screens have become larger and larger, which once squeezed the sales share of tablet computers.
But under the epidemic, news of tablet shortages continued to spread.
Tablet PC market continues to be hot and short of stock becomes the industry norm
Niu Zhilu, director of procurement and sales of the computer office operation department of Suning Tesco's Shenzhen region, said that due to the impact of the epidemic, the sales of the tablet computer business he is responsible for in 2020 have increased significantly compared with previous years.
In Shenzhen alone, there will be more than 30,000 units in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 67% year-on-year.
Niu
Zhilu, Director of Procurement and Sales of the Computer Office Operations Department of Suning Tesco Shenzhen
:
From the second quarter of 2020 to the end of the year, the entire tablet sales increased by 110.4%, of which Huawei increased by 194% year-on-year, iPad increased by 107% year-on-year, and new The brand Lenovo also entered the ranks of tablet computers, with an increase of 560% in 2020.
From February to March 2020, our tablets are basically hard to find in the market, and certain models are still out of stock.
Not only the domestic market, but the overseas flat panel market is also in an explosive state.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs, in the
first three quarters of 2020, China’s cumulative export volume of tablet computers was 15.53 million units, a year-on-year increase of 21.8%
.
Compared with point-of-sale, manufacturers feel the recovery of the tablet market earlier.
In a tablet packaging workshop in Wuhan, the reporter met Qi Yue, the person in charge here. Soon after the official resumption of work, they received a large number of new orders. By the end of 2020, they had added 10 production lines. Even this warehouse has been converted into a flat packaging workshop.
Even so, the problem of short supply of products still often plagues them.
Qi Yue, head of Lenovo (Wuhan) Industrial Base
:
The number of orders for our tablet PCs has increased by 80% to 90% compared to the same period in 2019, and this trend continues now.
According to the latest data released by IDC,
in the third quarter of 2020, China’s tablet computer market set the highest year-on-year growth rate in a single quarter since 2014
, with shipments of approximately 6.9 million units, a year-on-year increase of 21.7%. Under such a market background, there is Goods have become the norm in the tablet industry.
Prices continue to rise, small-size panels in short supply
In addition to being affected by the increasing sales volume, in terms of upstream supply, the price of the panel, which is a key component of the tablet computer, is also rising all the way, and the supply is very tight.
Xu Hefeng's company focuses on the production of painting flat products. Starting in the second quarter of 2020, their product sales have increased sharply, and the stock of raw materials will increase accordingly.
As the core component of the tablet computer, the panel is the key to the company's output.
But when communicating with panel suppliers, Xu Hefeng found that it was getting harder and harder to get the goods.
The demand for delivery of flat panel manufacturers is increasing day by day, which directly leads to a short supply of small-size panels. Among them,
10.2-inch and 11-inch panels are the most out of stock
, which has also contributed to the continuous increase in related product prices.
Xu Hefeng, Chairman of Shenzhen Huiwang Animation Technology Co., Ltd
.: There is
more demand, but less supply is of course expensive. In 2020, the price of display screens will indeed increase more, 10%, 20% or even more.
In many panel companies, the reporter learned that since the second quarter of 2020, factories have been at full production and sales, and inventories have been at a relatively low level in the past few years.
Hu
Peng
, general manager of the public communications department of TCL Technology Group Co., Ltd
.:
In November and December 2020, panel prices have increased significantly, with a global increase of approximately 1% to 2%, and a domestic market increase of approximately 3% .
However, the unexpected shutdown of a large glass substrate factory in Japan recently has also caused the supply of glass substrates as raw materials for panels to be in a hurry, making the already stretched market worse.
According to IDC forecasts, the current shortage of the Chinese tablet computer market will continue for a period of time. It is expected that the supply problem of the industrial chain in the first quarter of 2021 is expected to be alleviated and return to normal levels.
In the short term, small-size panel prices may remain high
.
Peng Xiandong, general manager of the TV division of Zhongyikang: In
2020, the flat panel market is expected to grow by 10% compared to 2019, and the scale will reach about 23 million units. From the perspective of upstream panel resources, it is relatively tight. Focus on the small and medium-sized parts. For the supply of upstream LCD panels for tablet PCs, the price of the panels is basically rising slightly every month, and basically maintained at a high level from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2021.
Online Education Brings Fire, Tablet PC Combination of Software and Hardware, Creative Use Experience
The explosion of the tablet computer market has allowed more companies to see business opportunities, and new players continue to flood in.
According to the data of the professional version
of Tianyancha, as of the end of 2020, there will be more than 4900 new enterprises in China whose names or business scope include "tablet computers and screens" in 2020
.
In order to stand out in the fiercely competitive market, many companies are targeting the online education market.
Affected by the epidemic,
online education has become an important usage scenario for tablet computers
. In fact, in addition to dedicated student tablets, more and more ordinary tablet brands have also begun to seize this market. For example, a certain tablet computer has a built-in tablet. An education center software, after clicking into it, you can see that various learning resources are embedded in it, and it is also equipped with a parent's background control system.
According to data from the China Internet Network Information Center,
during the epidemic, in March 2020, the number of domestic online education users reached 423 million. In June, the number was still 381 million, accounting for 40.5% of the number of Internet users.
In order to attract users, tablet computer companies are also constantly launching more education-related functions, accessing courses and applications of different education services in response to the educational demands of different user groups.
IDC data shows that before 2020, ordinary Chinese tablet manufacturers did not implant educational resources; and after the third quarter, the proportion of ordinary tablets implanted with educational resources has increased to 28%.
Not only are some tablet companies that originally positioned education, other companies also believe that the educational function will be the standard for all tablet products in the future.
At the same time, as industry competition has become fierce, various tablet companies are paying more and more attention to the study of changes in customer demand trends. The design of tablet computers is also centering on the three scenarios of office, learning and entertainment, further improving hardware optimization and software optimization. Application combination of hardware.