Monitor sales in 2021 were the best of the last 10, 2022 is not looking good

According to reports published this week by IDC and Jon Peddie Research, PC monitor sales in 2021 were the highest in the last 10 years. In total, 143.6 million units were sold worldwide.

The figures beat market expectations, virtually matching the record set a decade ago in 2012. Market analysts were projecting around 5% growth over 2020 sales, but surprised with a high of 19.4 % in the first half of the year.

The main growth factors pointed out by IDC were the continuation of an upward trend that started in 2018, with the adoption of the Windows 10 Business platform in more work environments, in addition to the clear move to remote work, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, closures and other restrictions imposed by the government.

Although the numbers were very good in the first half of the year, in the second half of 2021 there was a sudden reversal in growth, with a reduction in sales of 5.2% compared to the same period in 2020.

The cause of this twist? Again the COVID-19 pandemic, but now on the production chains, which have been in trouble due to confinement policies (mainly in China, with zero tolerance for new cases). In addition to factories, these measures had an impact on logistics and product transportation.

There was also a saturation in the market, possibly with many people returning to offices and reduced demand from end consumers. As a result, only Dell and Lenovo showed growth in monitor sales in the last quarter of 2021, the others had a retraction in their operations.

2022 doesn’t look good at all

The same report states that the scenario for 2022 will continue to decline, at least as far as the PC monitor market is concerned. IDC says we’ll see a 3.6% year-over-year decline.

As justification for this projection, analysts mention the rise in global inflation and the saturation caused by the initial wave of purchases, due to the pandemic. Another factor with weight was the war between Russia and Ukraine, with direct impacts on the cost of energy in nearby regions.

For the period between 2023 and 2026, the expectation is to keep everything at the same level, with practically zero growth. Perhaps new technologies like QD-OLED and flexible screens can reverse this situation and revive the monitor markets, especially when it comes to models aimed at gamers.

Source: tomshardware