Top Importers of Laptop Computers Ranked by Dollar Value

/ Durables, Shopping Goods / By

Imports of laptops around the globe were worth a total US$175.1 billion in 2020.

The dollar amount spent on globally imported laptops in 2020 reflects a 43.4% increase from the $122.1 billion for laptops imported during 2016.

Year over year, sales of laptops imported on international markets accelerated by 22% since 2019.

Imports of laptop computers represent 43.3% of the dollar value for all types of computers imported during 2020.

For international trade classification purposes, laptop computers must be portable and weigh not more than 22 pounds (10 kilograms).

The 5 most lucrative global consumer markets paid for over half (52.9%) of overall payments made for imported laptops. The highest cashflows are generated from buyers in: United States (29.5%), Germany (7.8%), Japan (6.5%), United Kingdom (5.2%) and Netherlands (3.9%).

The following analysis focuses on metrics measuring consumer demand in the top 100 global markets for buying imported laptops.

By comparing changes in consumer demand for these imported commodities by country, we can uncover the most attractive opportunities for selling laptops and related products and services on international markets.

Laptops Are Consumer Shopping Products

Laptops meet the criteria of a consumer good (also called an end product) created by businesses for consumers to buy in its final form. In contrast, products like turbojets are usually purchased by companies or government entities rather than individuals.

Economists classify laptops as shopping products, a technical classification for goods that are not as easily accessible as is the case at ubiquitous convenience stores or grocery shops.

A laptop is also defined as a shopping product because it is durable since it can be re-used for at least 3 years; typically requires more time before the consumer makes a buying decision; and is not bought as often as less expensive items such as food or beverages.

Even relatively inexpensive laptops costing under $600 typically last for up to 4 years, according to the technology review website Simply Laptop. To ensure longer laptop usability, experts recommend keeping your laptop clean, avoid overcharging the phone battery, and protect against damages to the laptop’s screen resulting from rough handling.

Imported Laptops Bought by Country

The sortable table below showcases marketing intelligence for the top 100 buyers of laptops, ranked in ascending order starting with the greatest annual sales amount. 6-digit Harmonized System (HS) code level. For portable laptop computers weighing less than 22 pounds (10 kilograms), the HS code is 847130.

Also shown is the percentage change in each country’s international purchases from 2019 to 2020.

  1. United States: US$51,641,906,000 (up 26.2% from 2019)
  2. Germany: $13,613,576,000 (up 25.7%)
  3. Japan: $11,359,563,000 (up 38%)
  4. United Kingdom: $9,131,734,000 (up 21%)
  5. Netherlands: $6,801,193,000 (up 19.4%)
  6. Hong Kong: $6,496,813,000 (up 15.2%)
  7. France: $5,298,363,000 (up 22.2%)
  8. Canada: $5,178,337,000 (up 15.1%)
  9. Czech Republic: $4,775,605,000 (up 31.7%)
  10. India: $4,523,829,000 (up 26.1%)
  11. Australia: $3,886,596,000 (up 11.7%)
  12. South Korea: $3,470,964,000 (up 28.3%)
  13. Italy: $3,398,948,000 (up 24.2%)
  14. UAE: $3,244,067,000 (up 3.5%)
  15. Russia: $2,512,263,000 (up 26.1%)
  16. Sweden: $2,297,213,000 (up 12.9%)
  17. Spain: $2,266,035,000 (up 25.7%)
  18. Singapore: $2,117,912,000 (up 17.2%)
  19. Poland: $1,993,421,000 (up 33.4%)
  20. Mexico: $1,861,261,000 (up 0.8%)
  21. Belgium: $1,653,766,000 (up 13.4%)
  22. Thailand: $1,527,056,000 (up 16.7%)
  23. Switzerland: $1,519,946,000 (up 8.1%)
  24. Taiwan: $1,311,670,000 (up 12.8%)
  25. Denmark: $1,292,975,000 (up 31.4%)
  26. Turkey: $1,272,762,000 (up 90.3%)
  27. Malaysia: $1,132,302,000 (up 26.2%)
  28. Saudi Arabia: $1,013,260,000 (up 20%)
  29. Austria: $929,090,000 (up 23.8%)
  30. Indonesia: $887,139,000 (down -19.6%)
  31. Norway: $837,494,000 (up 2.3%)
  32. Chile: $798,275,000 (up 44.6%)
  33. South Africa: $777,304,000 (down -6.1%)
  34. Israel: $726,175,000 (up 63.6%)
  35. Colombia: $711,250,000 (up 27.1%)
  36. Greece: $682,519,000 (up 2.6%)
  37. Peru: $677,087,000 (up 70.4%)
  38. Finland: $649,592,000 (up 9.3%)
  39. Ireland: $630,279,000 (up 36.3%)
  40. New Zealand: $609,284,000 (up 16.2%)
  41. Romania: $580,224,000 (up 59.6%)
  42. Portugal: $550,731,000 (up 23.4%)
  43. Vietnam: $548,623,000 (down -4.1%)
  44. Slovakia: $544,329,000 (up 23%)
  45. Hungary: $498,643,000 (up 8.6%)
  46. Philippines: $482,063,000 (up 41.3%)
  47. Argentina: $451,913,000 (up 45.5%)
  48. Ukraine: $378,649,000 (up 13.5%)
  49. Kazakhstan: $342,351,000 (up 111.8%)
  50. Panama: $314,384,000 (up 19.1%)
  51. Lithuania: $265,172,000 (up 17.8%)
  52. China: $217,659,000 (down -67.5%)
  53. Costa Rica: $212,495,000 (up 36.1%)
  54. Ecuador: $205,555,000 (up 122.2%)
  55. Pakistan: $200,585,000 (up 7.5%)
  56. Bulgaria: $198,637,000 (up 36.5%)
  57. Brazil: $192,361,000 (up 7.3%)
  58. Egypt: $168,783,000 (down -28.4%)
  59. Qatar: $165,558,000 (up 11.5%)
  60. Dominican Republic: $153,936,000 (up 18.3%)
  61. Croatia: $149,749,000 (up 14%)
  62. Guatemala: $140,594,000 (up 48.3%)
  63. Latvia: $133,488,000 (up 38.1%)
  64. Morocco: $133,288,000 (up 40.5%)
  65. Slovenia: $116,256,000 (up 27.1%)
  66. Macao: $112,975,000 (up 29.5%)
  67. Sri Lanka: $108,936,000 (up 30.8%)
  68. Estonia: $96,561,000 (up 6.8%)
  69. Luxembourg: $94,011,000 (up 32.1%)
  70. Paraguay: $87,424,000 (down -35.6%)
  71. Bangladesh: $86,482,000 (down -20.9%)
  72. Serbia: $77,096,000 (up 19.4%)
  73. Uruguay: $60,992,000 (up 34.7%)
  74. Brunei Darussalam: $59,590,000 (up 302%)
  75. El Salvador: $58,706,000 (up 3.6%)
  76. Belarus: $57,749,000 (down -40.9%)
  77. Jordan: $56,613,000 (up 94.9%)
  78. Myanmar: $54,840,000 (up 52.3%)
  79. Azerbaijan: $48,627,000 (up 48.2%)
  80. Iceland: $41,812,000 (up 23.7%)
  81. Ghana: $38,226,000 (up 358.2%)
  82. Kenya: $37,265,000 (down -32.6%)
  83. Georgia: $37,070,000 (up 8.5%)
  84. Cyprus: $35,737,000 (up 1.6%)
  85. Tunisia: $34,910,000 (down -38.7%)
  86. North Macedonia: $32,667,000 (up 41.6%)
  87. Ethiopia: $31,128,000 (down -13.5%)
  88. Jamaica: $30,800,000 (up 58%)
  89. Mauritius: $30,585,000 (down -9.3%)
  90. Honduras: $28,627,000 (down -14.4%)
  91. Kuwait: $25,933,000 (down -85.7%)
  92. Moldova: $25,639,000 (up 45.1%)
  93. Bosnia/Herzegovina: $24,777,000 (up 22.7%)
  94. Nigeria: $23,500,000 (down -25.2%)
  95. Malta: $23,289,000 (up 23.6%)
  96. Lebanon: $23,275,000 (down -39.2%)
  97. Trinidad/Tobago: $22,339,000 (up 104%)
  98. Nepal: $21,716,000 (down -56.7%)
  99. Nicaragua: $21,186,000 (down -23.6%)
  100. Zimbabwe: $21,048,000 (up 68.3%)

The top 5 importer countries (United States of America, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and the Netherlands) were responsible for over half (52.9%) of global spending on laptop imports in 2020.

Among the above 100 key global markets, 82 countries increased their purchases of imported laptops. The 5 leading buying increases were Ghana (up 358.2%), Brunei Darussalam (up 302%), Ecuador (up 122.2%), Kazakhstan (up 111.8%), Trinidad/Tobago (up 104%) then Jordan (up 94.6%).

Leading the 18 decliners year over year were Kuwait (down -85.7%), China (down -67.5%), Nepal (down -56.7%), Belarus (down -40.9%) and Lebanon (down -39.2%).

Richest Global Markets for Imported Laptops

Shown below is the market demand for laptops imported during 2020 by 30 of world’s richest countries in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person, according to RichestCountryReports.com.

Countries are listed in descending order starting with the wealthiest economy in terms of GDP per capita.

  1. Luxembourg: US$94 million (Up 32.1% from 2019)
  2. Singapore: $2.1 billion (Up 17.2%)
  3. Ireland: $630.3 million (Up 36.3%)
  4. Qatar: $165.6 million (Up 11.5%)
  5. Macao: $113 million (Up 29.5%)
  6. Switzerland: $1.5 billion (Up 8.1%)
  7. Norway: $837.5 million (Up 2.3%)
  8. United States: $51.6 billion (Up 26.2%)
  9. Brunei Darussalam: $59.6 million (Up 302%)
  10. Hong Kong: $6.5 billion (Up 15.2%)
  11. Denmark: $1.3 billion (Up 31.4%)
  12. Netherlands: $6.8 billion (Up 19.4%)
  13. Taiwan: $1.3 billion (Up 12.8%)
  14. Iceland: $41.8 million (Up 23.7%)
  15. Austria: $929.1 million (Up 23.8%)
  16. Germany: $13.6 billion (Up 25.7%)
  17. Sweden: $2.3 billion (Up 12.9%)
  18. Australia: $3.9 billion (Up 11.7%)
  19. Belgium: $1.7 billion (Up 13.4%)
  20. Finland: $649.6 million (Up 9.3%)
  21. Canada: $5.2 billion (Up 15.1%)
  22. Bahrain: $7.5 million (Down -85.6%)
  23. France: $5.3 billion (Up 22.2%)
  24. Saudi Arabia: $1 billion (Up 20%)
  25. United Kingdom: $9.1 billion (Up 21%)
  26. South Korea: $3.5 billion (Up 28.3%)
  27. Malta: $23.3 million (Up 23.6%)
  28. Japan: $11.4 billion (Up 38%)
  29. New Zealand: $609.3 million (Up 16.2%)
  30. Italy: $3.4 billion (Up 24.2%)

Twenty-nine among the above richest countries increased their spending on imported laptops from 2019 to 2020. The fastest increases belong to Brunei Darussalam (up 302%), Japan (up 38%), Ireland (up 36.3%), Luxembourg (up 32.1%), Denmark (up 31.4%), Macao (up 29.5%) and South Korea (up 28.3%). Only Bahrain posted a decline in its imports of laptops from 2019 to 2020 via its -85.6% decrease.

Enduring the greatest declines were United Arab Emirates (down -57%), Singapore (down -45%), Hong Kong (down -26.4%), New Zealand (down -24.7%), Bahrain (down -24.4%), Canada (down -23.1%) and United Kingdom (down -20.9%).

Top 10 Suppliers for US Imported Laptops

United States of America is the world’s biggest market for imported laptops as measured by total sales. Remarkably, its top 2 suppliers (mainland China, Taiwan) accounted for 98.6% of America’s purchases of imported laptops for 2020.

The following countries benefited the most from selling imported laptops into the US in 2020.

  1. China: US$47.7 billion (92.4% of US total)
  2. Taiwan: $1.9 billion (3.6%)
  3. Vietnam: $1.3 billion (2.6%)
  4. Mexico: $367.6 million (0.7%)
  5. Japan: $83.2 million (0.2%)
  6. Malaysia: $45.2 million (0.1%)
  7. South Korea: $33.4 million (0.1%)
  8. Hong Kong: $33.4 million (0.1%)
  9. Germany: $25.3 million (0.05%)
  10. Canada: $24.3 million (0.05%)

Eight among the above major suppliers of laptops increased their sales to America from 2019 to 2020, led by: Mexico (up 137.6%), Hong Kong (up 81.6%), Canada (up 52.3%), Vietnam (up 31.1%), Taiwan (up 30.2%) and mainland China (up 25.9%).

The 2 decreases among America’s key laptop sources were endured by Japan (down -41.6%) and South Korea (down -39.2%).

Laptops Imported by Key American States

The following 19 states plus the District of Columbia imported 96.3% worth of America’s total spending on laptops purchased from international suppliers in 2020. In dollar terms, the 20 states spent $49.7 billion on imported laptops.

  1. California: US$18.7 billion (36.2% of US total)
  2. Illinois: $12.4 billion (24%)
  3. Tennessee: $7.2 billion (14%)
  4. Pennsylvania: $1.8 billion (3.4%)
  5. North Carolina: $1.6 billion (3.2%
  6. Texas: $1.3 billion (2.5%)
  7. Georgia: $1.2 billion (2.3%)
  8. New York: $1.1 billion (2.2%)
  9. Kentucky: $1.09 billion (2.1%)
  10. Ohio: $836.3 million (1.6%)
  11. New Jersey: $592.3 million (1.1%)
  12. Florida: $462.9 million (0.9%)
  13. Virginia: $414.1 million (0.8%)
  14. Oklahoma: $294.4 million (0.6%)
  15. Nevada: $274.1 million (0.5%)
  16. Arkansas: $246.4 million (0.5%)
  17. Mississippi: $153.7 million (0.3%)
  18. South Dakota: $42.5 million (0.1%)
  19. Alaska: $22.1 million (0.04%)
  20. District of Columbia: $6.2 million (0.01%)

The strongest increases their imports of laptops from 2019 to 2020 were racked up by Ohio (up 126.8%), Arkansas (up 119.6%), Virginia (up 104.4%), Oklahoma (up 82.1%), Nevada (up 76.7%) and Kentucky (up 75.9%). There were 4 year-over-year reductions. The declines were posted by Texas (down -25.9%), District of Columbia (down -17.6%), New York (down -4.3%) and Mississippi (down -2.6%).

Comparative Metrics for US Laptop Imports

In terms of product quantity, the United States imported a total 122.3 million laptops in 2020. The latest annual number of laptops imported into America is a 21.8% increase from the 100.4 million imported laptops bought in 2019 from international suppliers.

To give some perspective to the above numbers benchmarking America’s as the world’s biggest market for imported laptops, Canada imported 52,430 laptops from international suppliers (up 49.9% from 2019).

Another North American trading partner, Mexico, bought 463,826 imported laptops in 2020, up 80.4% from 257,058 one year earlier.

The average unit value that American importers paid for foreign-made laptops in 2020 was $422, up by 3.7% from an average $407 during 2019.

In comparison, buyers in Canada paid a greater average price of $439 for imported laptops during 2020, compared to $468 one year earlier.

Importers in Mexico spent an average $287 for imported laptops from around the globe in 2020.

World’s Greatest Laptop Brands

Below you will find the top 10 of the strongest multinational brands for laptop computers. The list is ranked in descending order based on scores assessed by Global Brands magazine.

  1. Apple (Cupertino, USA)
  2. HP (Palo Alto, USA)
  3. Lenovo (Beijing, China)
  4. Dell (Round Rock, USA)
  5. Acer (New Taipei City, Taiwan)
  6. Asus (Taipei, Taiwan)
  7. MSI (Taipei, Taiwan)
  8. Microsoft Surface (Redmond, USA)
  9. Razer (Irvine, USA)
  10. Samsung (Suwon-si, South Korea)

Shown within brackets is the city which serves as the global headquarters for each laptop brand.

Note that 5 of the world’s superior laptop computer brands are headquartered in Asia, with 4 in technology leader South Korea. The United States of America is home to the other 5 top laptop brands.

See also

More great research: Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Cars, World’s 200 Most Valuable Imported Consumer Products, Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Wine, Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Cellphones

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Forbes, The Forbes Global 2000 List.

Global Brand Magazine, Top 10 Laptop Brands in the world.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Richest Country Reports, Top 50 Richest Countries by GDP per Capita.

Simply Laptop, How long should a laptop last?

United States Census Bureau, Foreign Trade State Data.

World’s Top Exports, Computer Accessories Exports by Country.

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