Strategic Intelligence: Consumer Electronics Sector Scorecard Q1 2025 Update

Strategic Intelligence: Consumer Electronics Sector Scorecard Q1 2025 Update

Summary

The addition of the tariffs theme to the thematic screen of GlobalData’s consumer electronics sector scorecard reflects growing risks from protectionist trade policies. While devices like laptops and smartphones are currently exempt from President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, this immunity will be short-lived. As a result, companies like Apple, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and DJI, which are heavily reliant on manufacturing in high-tariff regions like China and derive a significant portion of their revenue from the US, have seen their thematic rankings fall. These companies are more exposed to cost pressures and supply chain disruptions, especially if they have made little effort to diversify production or customer bases.

Meanwhile, companies like Honeywell, Vuzix, and iRobot, which have relatively localized supply chains and sell largely into their home markets, are better positioned to withstand tariff impacts and have climbed in the rankings. As trade tensions remain a persistent risk, companies must adapt their operational and geographic strategies to minimize exposure. In the short term, consumers might rush to purchase devices before their prices increase, meaning consumer electronics companies could consequently witness a near-term revenue surge. However, the eventual increased production costs will result in a slowdown in device upgrades and a lengthening of smartphone upgrade cycles in the long term.

Scope

• This sector scorecard provides a top-down, comprehensive outlook for the key players in the consumer electronics sector over the next two years, based on the key themes set to transform their industry landscape.

• Companies that invest in the right themes become success stories. Those that miss the important themes in their industry end up as failures.
• GlobalData’s thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying the important themes early, enabling companies to make the right investments ahead of the competition, and secure that all-important competitive advantage.
• At GlobalData, we have developed a unique thematic methodology for ranking all major companies in all major sectors based on their relative strength in the big themes that are impacting their industries.
• Our thematic engine tags over 180 million data items across six alternative data sets—patents, jobs, deals, filings, social media, and news—to themes. The vast datasets within our thematic engine help our analysts to produce sector scorecards that identify the companies best placed to succeed in a future filled with multiple disruptive threats.