Exchange Rate
The euro started off poorly against the GBP, falling from 0.8769 to 0.8739 on Jun 2, then after a rise to 0.8793 by Jun 7, another fall, and a jump to 0.8806 by Jun 11. The euro then dropped hard, sitting down at 0.8735 from Jun 15-17. Another rise and fall was followed by a series of strong increases, with the euro eventually peaking at 0.8855 on June 29, only to slip to end the month at 0.8841.
British Pound (GBP) per 1 Euro (EUR)
It was even worse against the USD, with the euro ending back where it started. Jumping from 1.1675 on Jun 1 to 1.808 by Jun 7 and a slight drop to 1.792 by Jun 11, the euro fell hard, hitting 1.1591 by Jun 15 and 1.1577 on Jun 20-21. A quick jump to 1.1675 on Jun 26 was dashed when the euro fell to a low of 1.566 by Jun 28, before recovering to sit back up at 1.1681 by Jun 30.
US Dollar (USD) per 1 Euro (EUR)
Euro (EUR) per 1 British Pound (GBP)
US Dollar (USD) per 1 British Pound (GBP)
MarketWatch said manufacturing slowed in June to an 18-month low with PMI falling to 54.0 from 55.5 in May while in another report noted unemployment for the month of May was at its lowest since 2008 with 8.4%, down 0.1% on April.
Phones and Tablets
The iPhone X was the highest globally shipped smartphone model in Q1 with 12.7m units, IHS reported, beating the iPhone 8 in second place with 8.5m and Samsung’s Galaxy Grand Prime Plus in third with 8.3m units.
The EMEA smartphone market reported a drop in shipments but an increase in value for Q1, reaching 86.52m units and with a sales value of $29.96bn. According to IDC, shipments to Western Europe alone dropped 8.2% YoY to 29.21m units.
Traditional PCs
According to PC Mag traditional personal computers have continually declined QoQ since Q2 2012, falling for 14 straight quarters to reach 61.7m units in Q1 2018, down 1.4% YoY. The report noted HP, Lenovo and Dell accounted for 56.9% of global PC shipments, up from 2.4% YoY, with the smaller companies like Acer suffering the most, down from 9.74m units in Q2 2012 to 3.82m units in Q1 2018.
In other news, Dell is going public again after five years of private ownership, Gigabyte has told investors to expect a 20% QoQ drop in GPU shipments for Q2 to 1m units, and Sharp will acquire Toshiba’s PC business, which holds just 0.6% of the global market with 0.9m units shipped in 2017.
Premium Ultramobiles & Wearables
Global wearable shipments are up 1.2% YoY to 25.1m units for Q1, IDC reported. Apple topped the list with +13.5% YoY to 4m units and 16.1% market share, followed by Xiaomi (+2.3% to 3.7m & 14.8%), Fitbit (-28.1% to 2.2m & 8.7%), Huawei (+147% to 1.3m & 5.2%) and Garman (+9.1% to 1.3m & 5%).
Looking ahead, IDC forecast global wearable shipments to reach 124.9m units for 2018, up 8.2% YoY, and continue at 12.5% YoY to 2022. Smartwatches are expected to dominate the market and account for 44.6% of all wearables shipped by 2022.
Processors, MEMs, Semiconductors
The SIA reported global semiconductor revenue reached $38.7bn for the month of May, up 21% YoY and 3% on April. By region the Americas enjoyed the biggest growth with 31.6% YoY and 1.1% on the month, while Europe enjoyed 18.7% YoY and 1% on April.
In other news, IHS said global semiconductor revenue dropped 3.4% in Q1 on the quarter to $115.8bn. Samsung led the market with 45.5% YoY and 1.6% QoQ growth to $18.607bn, followed by Intel with 11.1% YoY but -6.2% QoQ growth to $15.74bn. SK Hynix followed up in third with 47.1% YoY but -0.8% QoQ growth to $8.1bn.
Memory
NAND Flash prices are expected to drop in 2H on the back of unbalanced supply and demand. With Q3 a traditional peak season for smartphones, notebooks and tablets, the TrendForce report says growth will be marginal at most.
Storage
Global enterprise storage factory revenue grew 34.4% YoY in Q1 to $13.01bn, IDC reported. Dell topped the list with +43% YoY to $2.81bn and 21.6% market share, followed by HP (+18.3% to $2.3bn and 17.7%) and NetApp (+21.7% to $0.89bn and 6.8%).
Meanwhile, Western Europe’s external storage systems value grew 23.9% in Q1 on the quarter(in USD, +7.4% in euro), and over 50% YoY. According to the IDC report, one third of total shipments were all-flash arrays, while the UK returned to growth following 14 consecutive quarters of decline and zero growth.
Displays
The FIFA World Cup saw major TV brands stock up on panels in Q1, which will result in an expected 4% QoQ drop in Q2. Looking ahead, TrendForce expects demand for panels to increase 10-15% in Q3. In another report, TrendForce said global TV panel shipments grew 9.1% on the month in May to 23.52m units.
Printers
According to Context, EMEA printer shipments grew 3% YoY in Q1, while Western Europe alone, which accounted for 65% of all printer hardware shipments, but fell 3% YoY. By country, only six reported growth, while the UK was down -2%.
Monthly Stats
New products started at 21 and dropped to 9 by Jun 5, jumped up to 160 on Jun 8-10, hit a high of 30,420 on Jun 11, dropped to 12 by Jun 15-17, recovered, fell back down, hit a low of 5 by Jun 26 and then ended the month down at 17.
HP topped both price increase and price reductions by manufacturer.
Price increases per day started at 17,714, jumped to 25,238 on Jun 4, fell to a low of 3,698 by Jun 5, recovered, hit a high of 39,445 on June 11 and then continued in the same trend until eventually falling from 27,318 on Jun 28 to 22,130 on Jun 29-30.
Total price decreases per day highlights included sitting at 14,073 on Jun 1-3, rising slightly before falling back down until the end of the month when it peaked at 30,917 on Jun 25, fell to a low of 5,694 on June 28, and ended the month on 7,836.
Stock up sat at 13,036 from Jun 1-3 and rose to a high of 13,166 on Jun 4 before falling and holding steady, hovering between 3,000-5,000 before dropping to a low of 2,101 on Jun 19 and ending the month down at 3,745.
Stock down started at 12,259, jumped to 49,357 on Jun 6, fell back down to 15,054 on Jun 8-10, hit a low of 7,926 on Jun 19, recovered and continued to hold steady, before ending the month back near where it started at 12,780 on Jun 29-30.
New Products June 2018
Prices and Stock Movements June 2018