Laptop shipments down 7 percent due to chip shortages

Despite high demand, shipments of laptops declined in May because device makers are struggling to secure inventory. Asian tech site DigiTimes writes shipments of the top five brands, not including Apple, dropped 7 percent month-over-month in May. The site says laptop makers were unable to manufacture enough devices due to component shortages. Shipments of the top 3 laptop ODMs (original device makers) were down 10 percent.

Lenovo was the only top vendor that managed to increase shipments. According to DigiTimes, this is because Lenovo had been stockpiling inventory for its 618 promotion campaign in China. Preparation for this popular shopping event in China helped Lenovo to maintain its shipmentS.

HP saw inventory increase at channel in May, but the vendor's shipments were weaker than expected due to serious problems concerning components incompatibility.

Lenovo was the only vendor within the global top-3 to achieve an on-month shipment growth at 1% in May, as the company had been stocking inventory for the 618 promotion campaign in China and was gaining market share from other Chinese competitors.