COVID lockdowns drive gaming monitor sales to surpass expectations


COVID lockdowns drive gaming monitor sales to surpass expectations

COVID lockdowns drive gaming monitor sales to surpass expectations

COVID lockdowns drive gaming monitor sales to surpass expectations


It was widely expected that gaming monitors would be among the categories to have benefitted most from COVID-19 government lockdowns across Europe. However, year-on-year unit sales growth of 109% in July was more than CONTEXT anticipated. We're also seeing certain countries and vendors show surprising gains.

A lockdown investment

For most countries, lockdown over much of the first part of 2020 has meant homes full of remote workers and students. With more time on their hands, many have been investing in gaming monitors that can both enhance their leisure time and be useful for work and study during the day.

Over half of the total addressable market (TAM) came from four countries: Germany (24%), the UK (19%), Poland (11%) and Spain (11%). Of these, Spain has gained a huge amount of ground over the past year, up 217%, while sales in the UK (158%) and Poland (133%) also soared.

Drilling down

There were also some surprises amongst the leading vendors. While AOC continues to control market share at 25% (up 2.4%), MSI has stormed into second place on 16% after impressive year-on-year growth of 8.4%. The latter has always done well in direct sales and now appears to be augmenting this with strong performance in the channel. Asus sits in third with an 11% share.

What type of kit are consumers looking to get their hands on? It appears that 144Hz units continue to be most popular, with a 73% share, although they've taken a tumble this past year of -15.2%. The fastest growing refresh rate is for 165Hz monitors, up by 11.8 percentage points and increasing 566% in unit sales thanks to MSI's strong performance. The vendor now accounts for 40% share of the 165Hz market followed by Asus (26%) and Acer (15%).

By JT
 


Recent posts


Gaming RAM Sales Soar During Lockdown as Prices Fall

Unified Communications Market Surges on Lockdown Demand