Apple the largest mobile PC display purchaser in 2022

This is the first time since 2020 that yearly shipment was not only less than 500 million units but the first downturn by 16% year on year (YoY) after 2019.

The mobile PC market demand has been gradually cooling down in 2022 following a sharp surge in the preceding three years.

Most mobile PC brands saw a double-digit YoY declining ratio of their panel purchase volume in 2022, with the exception of Apple. Apple purchased a total of 99 million units of panels in 2022 and though the levels were down 4% YoY, Apple has continuously ranked as the largest mobile PC purchaser since 2017. Contributed by strong growth of both iPad and MacBook products, Apple’s mobile PC panel purchase share increased YoY from 17% on average in previous years up to 21% in 2022, exceeding 20% share for the first time. Application-wise, Apple purchased 27 million units of notebook PC displays in 2022 and 72 million units of tablet PC displays in 2022. Apple’s mobile PC panel suppliers are BOE, LG Display and Sharp.

The second largest mobile PC panel purchaser Lenovo purchased a total of 55 million units with a 29% YoY decline taking an 11% share in 2022 after being impacted by the slow demand of the tablet business. Lenovo also purchased 45 million units of notebook PC displays and 10 million units of tablet PC in 2022. Lenovo has been working with all display makers for many years to reduce the risk of supplier monopoly. Recently the supplier has been working with China display suppliers as domestic panel suppliers. 

In notebook PC display, for 2022, Lenovo was the largest purchaser with 45 million units, followed by Dell with 35 million units and HP with 33 million units. HP was the largest notebook panel purchaser for many years. Under a strict inventory control policy, HP moved down in ranking by one position in notebook PC panel purchaser ranking in 2022 following a huge panel adjustment down plan. In 2023, the overall PC market remains sluggish as every PC brand’s notebook panel purchase strategy becomes conservative with a minimal forecast. Securing notebook panel volume from strategic partners will be the priority for 2023.

In tablet PC display, Apple iPad is the largest purchaser in 2022 with 72 million units, followed by Samsung with 29 million units, Amazon with 14 million units and Lenovo with 10 million units. The top four tablet PC panel purchasers all recorded YoY decrease volume in 2022. Apple’s iPad panel levels are showing as weak in 1H23 after their inventory digestion strategy.

“Most tablet PC brands may reduce new product projects in order to control costs and avoid inventory burden in a slow market demand period,” said Linda Lin, Principal Analyst of Omdia.

“In contrast, other tablet clients for many non-tablet PC market applications might play an important role for panel makers in 2023, for example, in signage, self-service machines, industry, and others.”