The domestic IT hardware market has slowed down
Sales of laptops and tablets registered a historic collapse in the market in our country in 2022.
(photo: CC0 Public Domain)
The IT hardware market in Bulgaria had a good 2022. The domestic market slowed down, but this was offset by exports, according to a new analysis by the CBN agency Pannoff, Stoytcheff & Co.
1.23 billion euros (1.30 billion US dollars) of IT hardware imports to Bulgaria reached last year, according to CBN’s annual survey of 14 hardware lines plus wholesale and retail sales indices.
Growth in the domestic market slowed significantly compared to the record year 2021, but as in other years, exports offset some of the reduced turnover in the domestic market, analysts commented.
Still, exports compensated to some extent, albeit reaching an all-time high, with the country exporting IT hardware worth 82 million euros more than the previous year in just one year.
Somewhat surprisingly, Q4’2022 brought the biggest growth for a final quarter in value since 2019, and in volume again reached record results, notes the CBN.
The two largest hardware product lines have traditionally been notebook computers and smartphones. After a record-breaking 2021, laptops and tablets recorded a historic slump in numbers in 2022 and failed to reach positive turnover indices in value.
However, the smartphone market surprised again. Although down in numbers for the third year in a row, reaching a six-year low, in terms of value in 2022 this market recorded an outstanding record, and the average price per device rose by more than $80 from the reference year of 2017.
Of the 14 hardware product lines in the CBN study, UPS systems were the single leader in domestic sales growth. Then there are the printers, whose sales in election years have always seen growth – apparently regardless of the voting method. In third place in terms of growth is communication hardware.
At the same time, the HDD & MSS hardware remained below the line together with the notebook market, which is a real surprise, against the background of the excellent growth of the flash memory market, notes CBN.
Historically, the most serious risks to the IT hardware market are mainly related to wrong sales planning, which can lead to price absurdities, market redistribution or loss of capital.
Another big risk that brings significant indirect losses is the lack of market coverage in the public space, which affects the motivation when making decisions to purchase hardware from both businesses and private users.