China Units Plunged 42.5%

Vietnam in Q1 Became Top Source for TV Imports Under 35 Inches

May 10, 2022 by Paul Gluckman|Top News

TV imports to the U.S. in all screen sizes from all countries nudged 1.5% higher year over year in the seasonally weak first quarter, reaching 9.77 million sets, with an average customs value of $330.66, according to Customs data retrieved Sunday through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb portal. Q1 shipments fell 24.5% sequentially from Q4, and their average value trended 6.5% lower, evidence of the sustained decline in LCD panel prices that began last summer (see 2205020026).

The precipitous drop in TV shipments from China was the big import story for Q1, likely caused by COVID-19 factory lockdowns in Shenzhen and other Chinese display production hubs. First-quarter Chinese TV imports to the U.S. plunged 42.5% year over year to 1.53 million, the lowest quarterly volume from China since 2020's Q1, when the pandemic forced Wuhan in Hubei Province to impose the world’s first shelter-in-place mandates.

Vietnam was the clear beneficiary of China’s woes in Q1, according to DataWeb. U.S. importers sourced 1.24 million TVs from Vietnam during the quarter, up 34.2% from a year earlier, firmly establishing Vietnam as a key country of origin in the TV supply chain. Vietnam finished Q1 with 12.7% share of all TV imports to the U.S. in Q1 to China’s 15.7%. In the year-earlier quarter, China had a 27.6%-to-9.6% advantage over Vietnam. Mexico, meanwhile, held steady as the world’s top TV supplier to the U.S., generating shipments of 5.87 million sets, up 11% year over year, for a 60.1% share of all Q1 TV imports to the U.S. from all countries.

Analysts have commented frequently about the sustained growth in demand for larger screen sizes since the start of the pandemic (see 2204260054), but that was not the trend in Q1 TV imports to the U.S., according to DataWeb. U.S. importers sourced 5.27 million TVs from all countries with screen sizes exceeding 45 inches. That was down 0.4% year over year and 29.4% lower than the volume in Q4.

Q1 shipments of the largest sets from Mexico were up 5% year over year to 4.23 million for an 80.3% share in that screen classification (up from a 76.2% share in the 2021 quarter), according to DataWeb. China lost 9.1 points of share to 6.9% in the largest screens when its shipments to the U.S. declined 57.1% to 363,400. Vietnam had less than 2% share of the largest screens, generating shipments of roughly 83,000 of those sets, a 139% increase from the year-earlier quarter.

First-quarter TV imports bore undeniable evidence of weakness in screen sizes between 35 and 45 inches, according to DataWeb. Shipments of 2.28 million of those sets from all countries were down 17.7% sequentially from Q4 and 5.8% lower year over year.

Mexico held 50.4% share of those screen sizes (up from 39.8% in the 2021 quarter), generating a 19.3% rise in shipments year over year to 1.15 million sets, according to DataWeb. Vietnam overtook China as the second-largest source country for screen sizes between 35 and 45 inches, with 23.7% share to China’s 20.2%. China had a 31%-to-21.7% advantage over Vietnam a year earlier. Vietnamese shipments increased 3% year over year to nearly 541,500 sets, while Chinese shipments plunged 38.7% to 460,300.

Vietnam in Q1 also became the world’s top source country for TV imports to the U.S. in 32- to 35-inch screen sizes, a popular consumer choice after the U.S. went into its first COVID-19 lockdowns in spring 2020. Vietnam had 35% share to China’s 22%, vs. Q1 a year earlier when China held a 37%-to-17% advantage over Vietnam.

First-quarter TV shipments from Vietnam in screen sizes 32-35 inches were up 61.1% year over year to nearly 578,400 sets, while imports from China declined 54% to 353,700. Likely evidence of a temporary sourcing shift as Shenzhen went into lockdown was the 69.6% increase in shipments from Mexico to 381,400 sets for a 23.3% share in those screen sizes (compared with 14.8% in the 2021 quarter). U.S. importers sourced 1.64 million sets in those screen sizes from all countries in the quarter, down 21.5% sequentially from Q4, but up 7.9% from the year-earlier quarter.