Q1 Import Growth Receded in Key Tech Goods From Q4, DataWeb Says

May 10, 2021 by Paul Gluckman|Top News

First-quarter consumer tech imports in the key categories of smartphones, laptops, tablets and TVs declined somewhat from Q4, but remained well ahead of their Q1 2020 volumes, according to Census data accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. As the National Retail Federation reported, the robust year-over-year Q1 growth rates in some import categories may have been “artificially high” due to comparisons with first quarter 2020, when much of the Asian supply chain was mired in the first COVID-19 global lockdowns.

U.S. importers sourced 31.16 million laptops and tablets from all countries in Q1, 28.3% fewer than in Q4, but 116.1% higher than in the first quarter of 2020, DataWeb said. China generated 91.3% of first-quarter laptop and tablet shipments to the U.S., down slightly from its 92.6% share in Q4, but up noticeably from its 88.3% share in Q1 2020, when the pandemic impeded Chinese factories from returning to full production. China shipped 28.45 million laptops and tablets to the U.S. in the first quarter, 29.3% fewer than in Q4, but up 123.5% from Q1 a year earlier.

Q1 Vietnamese laptop and tablet imports to the U.S. declined 10.7% from Q4, to 1.75 million devices, but were up 110.8% from their first-quarter 2020 volume, DataWeb said. Vietnam generated 5.6% of laptop and tablet imports to the U.S. in Q1, which was up slightly from its 4.5% share in Q4 and virtually unchanged from its 5.8% share in Q1 last year.

First-quarter smartphone imports to the U.S. declined 22% sequentially from Q4, to 44.72 million handsets, but were up 24.3% from a year earlier, DataWeb said. Chinese smartphone shipments of 36.59 million handsets in Q1 were down 24.4% from Q4, but up by 53.1% from the first quarter of 2020, when China generated 66.4% of the U.S. supply amid COVID-19's lower factory utilization. China’s Q1 smartphone share was a more customary 81.8%, down slightly from 84.3% in Q4.

Vietnam shipped 6.55 million smartphones to the U.S. in the first quarter, 8.4% fewer than in Q4, and more notably, 26.6% fewer than in Q1 2020, DataWeb said. Vietnam generated roughly a fifth of all smartphone shipments to the U.S. last year, including 24.8% of all handsets in Q1 2020, but its first-quarter share this year plunged to 14.6%. Vietnam as a haven for low-end smartphones is likely to continue losing share to China, which owns the market in premium handset production, including that of 5G-enabled devices. The average Vietnamese smartphone import to the U.S. in Q1 was worth $193.40 in customs value, about two-thirds the value of its average Chinese counterpart.

U.S. importers sourced 9.63 million TVs in all sizes from all countries in the first quarter, 36% fewer than in Q4, but up 21.4% from a year earlier, DataWeb said. Mexico owned 54.9% share of TV imports to the U.S. in Q1, but its 5.29 million sets were down 36.3% from Q4 and were 0.9% fewer than in Q1 a year earlier.

China shipped 2.66 million TVs to the U.S. in the first quarter, down 43.3% from Q4, but up 79.7% from Q1 2020, DataWeb said. It was another possible example of artificially high year-over-year growth due to supply chain constraints in the year-earlier quarter. Vietnam shipped slightly more than 920,000 TVs to the U.S. in the quarter, down 26.4% from Q4 but up 155.6% year over year. Vietnam generated 9.6% of all TV imports to the U.S. in the first quarter, more than double its 4.5% a year earlier. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai signaled last month that President Joe Biden will hold Vietnam accountable for its alleged currency manipulation (see 2104020031). Her predecessor found Hanoi's practices "actionable" under Section 301, leaving the imposition of tariffs on Vietnamese imports on the table as a possible future trade remedy.

First-quarter TV shipments to the U.S. from all countries in the three most prominent screen-size import classifications each declined by double digits from Q4, but increased by more moderate double digits from a year earlier, DataWeb said. Sets with screen sizes exceeding 45 inches maintained their majority share (54.9%) of all TV imports to the U.S. in Q1 and were up 13.8% from a year earlier, to 5.29 million, but down 37.6% from Q4.

TV imports with screen sizes between 35 and 45 inches generated the highest year-over-year increases and the most moderate sequential declines from Q4 of all screen size classifications, DataWeb said. U.S. importers sourced 2.42 million sets in that category in Q1, down 20.9% from Q4, but up 36% from the 2020 first quarter. Last year’s hottest TV import category in unit-growth terms was sets with screen sizes between 30 and 35 inches. Slightly more than 1.5 million of those sets were shipped here in the first quarter, which was 47.4% fewer than in Q4 but up 15.2% from Q1 a year earlier.