Triple-Digit Laptop Growth, Cheaper TVs Dominated Q2 Import Story
High demand for telework and remote-learning connectivity tools sent Q2 laptop and tablet imports soaring by triple digits from Q1, according to new Census Bureau data we accessed Sunday through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. Lockdown-induced TV import growth also was robust, but intense commoditization was the story there, even in the largest screen sizes.
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U.S. importers in Q2 sourced 31.15 million notebooks and tablets under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule’s 8471.30.01 subheading, said DataWeb. That was a 116% sequential increase from Q1 and up 15% from the 2019 quarter. Dollar imports were $31.15 billion, a 98.4% increase from Q1 and up 23.5% year over year. The average import, $437.02, was 8.2% cheaper sequentially, up 7.5% from the 2019 quarter.
China was the overwhelmingly dominant country of origin for laptops and tablets in Q2, said DataWeb. Its 28.61 million units were 91.8% of all U.S.-bound shipments and were up 124.7% from Q1 when China was starting to rebound from COVID-19 factory shutdowns and supply chain disruptions after the Lunar New Year holiday. The average Chinese import was $444.48, 8.9% cheaper than in Q1, up 7.6% from the 2019 quarter.
Vietnamese imports were 4.9% of all U.S.-bound laptop and tablet shipments in the quarter, said DataWeb. Its share dipped from 5.8% in Q1, testament to China’s dominance in Q2, though unit volume climbed 83.5% sequentially to 1.53 million. Vietnam remained the world’s haven for commodity-priced portable computing goods. The average Vietnamese device was $187.28, a 2.8% increase from Q1 and 11% higher than the 2019 quarter but nearly 60% cheaper than its Chinese counterpart.
Q2 TV unit imports to the U.S. under HTS 8528.72.64 were 11.54 million sets, up 45.7% from Q1 and a 32.9% increase from the 2019 quarter, said DataWeb. Dollar volume increased 19.3% from Q1 but was down 6.6% from a year earlier. The average TV import was $219.59, 17.8% cheaper than in Q1 and a 29.8% decrease from the 2019 quarter. DataWeb keeps TV import records dating to 2007, and we couldn’t find a lower quarterly average.
Mexico’s diminished role in the quarter as a key supplier of premium TVs was one factor in the increased commoditization as the country grappled with COVID-19 shutdowns and disruptions for much of April. U.S. importers sourced 5.08 million Mexican TVs in Q2, 4.9% fewer than in Q1 but up 25.4% from the 2019 quarter. Mexico was 44% of all TV imports to the U.S. in Q2, down 23.1 points from Q1, and about on par with its 46.7% share in the 2019 quarter, months before the Section 301 tariffs began chasing TV production from China to Mexico. The average Mexican set was $320.20, about flat with Q1 but down 26.3% from a year earlier.
China was 38.6% of TV imports to the U.S. in Q2, more than double its 17.8% Q1 share, said DataWeb. Chinese TV unit volume of 4.46 million sets was 201.4% higher than in Q1 and up 5% from the 2019 quarter. The average Chinese TV was $137.39, down 17.1% from Q1 and a 34.4% decline from a year earlier.
Even Vietnam, which contributed 10.7% of all TV imports to the U.S. in the quarter, had a higher average at $140.70. Vietnam has had its ups and downs as a country of origin for TV supply. The 1.24 million sets it shipped here in Q2 were up 244.4% from Q1, when it was 4.5% of TV imports to the U.S. It shipped fewer than 4,000 sets to the U.S. in the 2019 quarter.
Extreme commoditization also touched Q2 TV imports in the largest screen sizes, said DataWeb. The average TV import with a screen size larger than 45 inches was $313.61, down 14.2% from Q1 and a 26.3% decline from the 2019 quarter. Census began tracking large-screen TV imports under the 10-digit HTS 8528.72.64.60 subheading in 2016. We searched and couldn’t find a lower quarterly average.
Unit imports of large-screen TVs reached 6.14 million sets in Q2, up 31% from Q1 and 21% from the 2019 quarter, said DataWeb. Large-screen sets were 53.2% of all TV imports to the U.S. in the quarter, down from 58.5% in Q1 and 58.4% a year earlier.
Mexico shipped 3.79 million large-screen sets here in Q2, up 5% from Q1 and 18.8% from the 2019 quarter, said DataWeb. The average Mexican TV was $379.45, 5.9% lower than in Q1 and a 24.7% decline from a year earlier. It was the first time in any quarter that the average Mexican set slipped below $400. Mexico’s share of large-screen TV imports slipped to 61.7% from 77.6% in Q1 and was about on par with its pre-tariff 62.9% share in the 2019 quarter.
China was 30.3% of large-screen TV imports to the U.S. in the quarter, nearly quadruple its 7.7% Q1 share, said DataWeb. U.S. importers sourced 1.86 million large-screen sets from China in Q2, up 204.9% from Q1 and 5% from a year earlier. The average of $197.40 was down 20.2% from Q1 and was 31.9% lower than in the 2019 quarter. We searched DataWeb records back to 2016 and found no previous quarter in which the average Chinese large-screen TV fell below $200.
Display Supply Chain Consultants President Bob O'Brien agrees the near-30% decline in average TV value was "pretty unusual," he emailed Monday. "I suspect it has a lot to do with product mix," but also because LCD TV panel prices "hit their lowest point all-time in Q2," he said.
The TV industry also experienced "an unexpected demand surge that started with lockdowns in March," said O'Brien. "TV sales of big screens were up a lot, but even smaller screens did well." As stay-at-home mandates proliferated during Q2, "low-priced TVs did well and high priced TVs did not," he said. "This aspect is unique to the pandemic. There were TVs bought for kids to do gaming, and for parents to stream, but the need to have the TV as a showcase (like when you're having a Super Bowl party) just evaporated. That hurts the name brands at the top of the market, and favors the value brands."