Year-end holiday demand in the fourth quarter of 2022 was seriously undermined by the economic downturn brought by rising global inflation and mature markets' interest rate hikes with global notebook shipments estimated to slip 16% sequentially and over 40% on year, and the situation is unlikely to improve much in the first quarter of 2023.
The consumer sector suffered high channel inventory, while demand from enterprises also plunged drastically in the fourth quarter, resulting in brand vendors significantly decelerating their order pull-ins for the quarter.
In addition to seasonality, with the economic downturn in mature markets in Europe and North America likely to persist and vendors' inventory at the channel having no chance to return to a safe level anytime soon, vendors' shipments are expected to hurt seriously in the first quarter of 2023.