Global shipments of streaming media devices fell by 6.5% year over year (y/y) in the second quarter of 2024 to 12.4 million units, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's Kagan estimates.

This is partly due to high penetration as well as a shift to profit-focused pricing models by manufacturers.  

The analysis noted that streaming media devices and video game consoles have been among the weakest segments in the consumer electronics sector.  Laptops, smartphones, and AI-focused data centres are supporting the recovery in upstream electronics supply chains.

It added that the broader recovery in electronics could be seen in the global trade of semiconductors, with exports from mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan combined having increased by 23% year-over-year in July, leading to a 50.4% jump in exports from memory chip-focused South Korea.

"While the growth rates are stark, at US$50.3 billion in total, the exports have only just exceeded the January 2022 peak, which was driven by pandemic-era consumer demand," the report said.

It added that exports from Taiwan, including AI-focused graphics processing units (GPUs), which are classified as "servers" in trade data, have stalled at around US$22 billion over the past five months.