18.1.2023 | Market analyses ITscope Market Barometer Q4/2022

Chip, chip, hurray!  ITscope Market barometer Q4/2022

The ITscope market barometer Q4/2022 is here – with the current top sellers from eight categories and the best newcomers on ITscope!

ITscope market barometer Q4/2022 as a PDF (English)

The ITscope market barometer is based on ITscope GmbH’s own analysis.

Karlsruhe, 19/01/2023 - IT enthusiasts have every reason to be happy, because IT manufacturers are bringing a breath of fresh air to the market with new chip generations: Intel is presenting the processors from the 13th Core generation under the codename "Raptor Lake" and Nvidia is really heating up the market with the high-performance graphics card GeForce RTX 4090. In the market barometer for the fourth quarter of 2022, there are therefore a particularly large number of exciting new products that outstrip the long-established products.

As one of these newcomers, for example, the MSI 24GB D6X RTX 4090 Gaming X Trio went straight into second place in the graphics card category. The new Nvidia GPU based on the new Ada-Lovelace architecture is the talk of the town. Not just because of its strong performance and price: some users reported melted cables and connectors. Nvidia, however, attributed the problems to a faulty installation of the adapter. The incidents made waves and the 12VHPWR connector earned criticism for lack of usability and instability. Manufacturer Be Quiet! stated that no problems had occurred with their cables. The Be Quiet! CPH-6610 12VHPWR cable promptly entered the ITscope highflyers.

There is also a huge leap in performance for Intel's new CPUs compared to the previous generation. Intel released the first processors for the desktop sector in 2022, but the 13th generation is to be expanded to up to seven models. On the ITscope platform, the Intel Core i9 13900K, which has 24 cores and an split architecture, was particularly popular.

The layout of the mobile phone top list remains as in previous rankings: Apple once again dominates this category with its models. The new iPhone 14 series, above all the iPhone 14 Pro, is popular as expected. That's despite - or precisely because - there were delivery problems before Christmas. Especially in the higher-priced segment, Apple is increasingly asserting itself and hardly leaves a chance to the high-end devices from Samsung and Co.

Content

Highflyers: The newcomers in the fourth quarter of 2022
TFTs: All quiet on this front
Mobile phones: Apple dominates the high-end segment
Tablets: No-one can get past the iPad
Notebooks: Changing of the guard at Lenovo
PC systems: The number 1 remains unbeaten
Graphics cards: Fast, faster, GeForce RTX 4090
CPU: Intel's new Raptor-Lake generation gets things moving
Printers: The trend is towards more sustainability
Managed Services: Microsoft clearly in the lead

Highflyers: The newcomers in the fourth quarter of 2022

Especially in the IT sector, it is important to keep an eye on new products. Our highflyer list gives you an impression of which IT products are particularly promising. A product counts as a highflyer if it has been frequently clicked-on in the first six months after its listing. In our top list, we present the 30 most popular new products from a category for each quarter.

Greatly desired, but only available in limited quantities - the Apple iPhone 14 Pro is the most clicked-on new product in the fourth quarter of 2022. As already announced by Apple, there were delivery problems with the latest iPhone model due to the lockdown in China, which also drove up the click numbers on our platform. The iPhone 14 Pro distinguishes itself from its predecessor with, among other things, a powerful A16 Bionic chip, an energy-saving Always-On Display and an improved camera with 48 MP.

The HP Essential USB-C docking station has made it to second place among the highflyers. Although it has only been listed since August, it is already the fourth most clicked-on notebook docking station in the fourth quarter. In contrast to the highflyer champion of the previous quarter - the HP Thunderbolt Dock G4 - this docking station with USB-C is cheaper, but also offers fewer technical advantages. USB-C and Thunderbolt use the same connector shape, but are not one hundred percent compatible with each other. In terms of transfer speed, charging speed and connection of additional devices, the Thunderbolt connection has the edge. For many applications, however, a dock with USB-C is sufficient and therefore more economical. The most clicked-on docking stations in Q4 in general are the Lenovo ThinkPad Universal USB-C Dock and the Lenovo ThinkPad Hybrid USB-C with USB-A Dock.

Third place also goes to Apple with their 2nd generation of AirPods Pro. The previous version of these earbuds was already a real highflyer last year. The new Bluetooth earphones come with small innovations and adjustments, but convince above all with their effective noise cancelling and excellent sound - which has now been further enhanced with the new H2 chip. Changes have been made to the controls, which are now touch-sensitive, and to the charging case, which can now be found via Apple's 'Find My' app. Although the headphones can be used with all Bluetooth devices, many features are reserved for Apple users.

The new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 chipset has caused quite a stir among graphics cards. So it's no wonder that the MSI GeForce RTX 4090 GAMING X TRIO made it to 4th place in our highflyers with 1,513 clicks. Read what the newcomer can do and what else has happened in the graphics cards category.

The Microsoft Surface range is celebrating its tenth anniversary and the new Microsoft Surface Pro 9 for Business has entered our highflyers in 5th place - just in time for the festivities. The 2-in-1 tablet has a powerful 12th generation Intel processor, 16GByte RAM and a 256GByte NVMe SSD. The compatibility with the Microsoft environment is a great advantage, especially in the business environment. At 1.5 kilograms, the tablet is lighter than most notebooks; the tablet module alone weighs only 837 grams. This makes the Surface an ideal companion for mobile work or home office, especially for companies that work with Windows, OneDrive or Office products from Microsoft. 

A rare sight in the Highflyers: a printer made it into the Top 10 with 7th place! The Kyocera ECOSYS M5526cdna, released in autumn, is a powerful multifunctional system and combines colour laser printing,  a copier and a scanner. Kyocera advertises its Ecosys models as particularly durable and resource-saving.

Apple not only dominates the wearables category with its smartwatches, the new Apple Watch Series 8 also made it to 8th place among the newcomers. As in the previous year, Apple launched the new model just in time for the Christmas quarter. As usual, the Apple Watch has a strong performance. Compared to the Watch Series 7, sensors for car accident detection and body temperature measurement were added, and the new model also promises an extra two hours of battery life.

The first processors of the 13th Core generation from Intel really shook up the CPU market in the fourth quarter. So it is no wonder that the Intel Core i9 i9-13900K appears in the highflyers. Read more about the new Intel CPUs in the category section further down.

It's rather unusual for a new accessory cable to land 328 clicks, but the Be Quiet! CPH-6610 made it anyway. The 12V HPWR cable fits the new Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics cards and owes its highflyer success to the inglorious headlines about cable fires. With the Be Quiet! CPH-6610, each pin is directly connected to a cable.

Here your can see our 30 most active newcomers with Hot-Seller Potential - our highflyers:

TFTs: All quiet on this front

When it comes to TFT monitors, no one can get past the Dell P2422H. With 7,483 clicks, the monitor is clearly ahead of the second-placed Lenovo ThinkVision T24i-2L, which still registers 2,316 clicks. This means that Dell has been the undisputed leader for two years now, first with the 18" model, then with the successor model from 2021. Dell's 27" variant, the P2722H, makes it into third place. There are no other surprises in the TFT category either - the market and technology are stable. Besides Dell and Lenovo, Samsung and HP are also represented in the Top 10 with their models.

The most clicked-on higher-priced model is the Samsung Flip WM55R, which has already been listed on ITscope since 2019. It is not a classic office screen, but a digital flipchart with a 55-inch touchscreen display. This makes it primarily suitable for interactive collaboration, for example in meeting rooms and conference halls.

Mobile phones: Apple dominates the high-end segment

Apple continues to claim the top spots in the mobile phone category. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Apple iPhone 13 is still in the lead with 4,309 clicks, but the new iPhone 14 Pro is hot on its heels with 3,685 clicks - having been announced in the third quarter. Other variants of the iPhone 14 are also catching up strongly - with the iPhone 14 Pro Max, for example, making the leap from 34th to 5th place. In addition to hardware improvements, the iPhone 14 series also offers a software innovation, namely the so-called 'Dynamic Island'. The additional window that can be pulled up from the top edge of the screen can be used to access additional apps - an exciting feature, if it is used by the app manufacturers in the future.

Between the mostly high-priced Apple models, some Samsung smartphones are holding their own in the top ranks. This includes the Samsung A53 5G, which was released in 2022, or the Samsung Xcover 5 Enterprise from 2021. The Samsung Galaxy A13 (from 43rd to 16th place) and the Samsung Galaxy A33 (from 31st to 18th place) have also fought their way up. It is noticeable that only Samsung mobile phones in the low and medium price segment can boast reasonable click numbers. Samsung flagships such as the Galaxy S22 Ultra or the Galaxy Z Flip4 did not even make it into the top 50, giving the impression that Samsung is being pushed out of the high-end smartphone market by Apple.

The Samsung Galaxy A13 is a remarkable low-budget model with a retail price of under €150. It impresses with a large, sharp display and good battery life, but disappoints with the processor and no support for 5G. The mid-range Samsung Galaxy A33 smartphone plays in a different league and has an OLED display, a waterproof housing and a very good camera.

Google's Pixel 6a has also moved up and made the leap from 52nd to 19th place, which is certainly also due to the steadily falling price of the smartphone. This mid-range phone is a mixture of the Pixel 5 and Pixel 6, and is currently the smallest Pixel phone.

The WSP trend for the Google Pixel 6a has been steadily going downhill since August 2022.

Tablets: No one can get past the iPad

The Apple iPad Wi-Fi, 10.2" takes first place unchanged and by a wide margin. With 10,739 clicks, the iPad is well ahead of the second-placed Microsoft Surface Pro 8 - although the two tablet models could not be more different. While the Surface Pro 8 is a high-priced 2-in-1 product that combines a notebook and tablet, the iPad is comparatively cheap, but nevertheless providing solid performance.

However, both of the top rankings have competition from within their own ranks. The new Surface version, namely the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 for Business, not only makes it into our highflyers, but also enters the tablet category directly in 5th place - a solid performance.

And the 10th-generation Apple iPad is also getting ready to take over from the 9th generation. Having been listed on ITscope since October, the Apple 10.9-inch iPad Wi-Fi (10th gen.) narrowly misses entering the Top 10 at 11th place. The entry-level tablet is €150-200 more expensive than the previous version, which is also still listed. The most noticeable change is the omitted home button and the larger display, which has a higher resolution with Liquid Retina (2360 × 1640 instead of 2160 × 1620). In addition, the iPad 10 has an A14 chip, which brings a significant increase in performance and energy efficiency.

The new Apple 12.9-inch iPad Pro has also received a new chipset and a price increase. The M2 processor gives the tablet a brisk working speed - Computerbild even writes: "It doesn't get any faster than this. The iPad Pro 2022 is currently the most powerful tablet."

Changing of the guard at Lenovo

Instead of the winner from Q3/2022, which was the Lenovo ThinkPad E15 Gen 3 20YG, the newer Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 3 21C3 now made it to the top position in the notebook category with 5,325 clicks. And not only because of the significantly better performance thanks to the Intel Core i7 processor, but also because Lenovo no longer sells the 3rd generation ThinkPad E15. As a result, numerous 4th generation Lenovo ThinkPads have climbed in the rankings, including the Lenovo ThinkPad E15 Gen 4, which has made it from 160th to 10th place.

Out of stock: the Lenovo ThinkPad E15 Gen 3 20YG was no longer available at the end of 2022.

The stock availability of the Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 3 21C3 also fluctuated at the end of the year 2022.

In addition to the ThinkPads, a ThinkBook from Lenovo also made it into the Top 5, the Lenovo ThinkBook 16p G2 ACH 20YM. The Lenovo range has a touch display and was initially designed for private users. However, thanks to the RTX 3060 graphics card and the Ryzen processor, the ThinkBook is also suitable as a powerful business notebook.

The changing of the guard also came for the HP Book 480 notebook: the new HP ProBook 450 G9 notebook has climbed from 121st place into 2nd. The notebook, which has been listed on ITscope since March, works quietly, efficiently and with a long battery life with Intel's Core i7-1255U.

PC systems: The number 1 remains unbeaten

In the fourth quarter, PC systems are less popular overall than in the rest of 2022. Nevertheless, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q 11DT remains the top performer of the entire ITscope platform: a well-deserved 1st place with 11,401 clicks.

The second-placed PC system, HP's Pro Mini 400 G9, i5 2GHz, which came in 16th in the third quarter, had significantly fewer hits - namely 2,719. As the name suggests, HP's system is a real mini among PCs, but nevertheless fast and very quiet at 0.1 sone. The system scores with many connections, such as nine USB sockets and three monitor ports. Other HP systems from 2022 also made strong gains in the fourth quarter, with the HP Workstation Z2 G9 climbing from 38th to ninth place and the HP Pro 400 G9 - Wolf Pro Security - Mini even rising from 105th to 11th place.

Alongside Lenovo and HP, a Dell PC system is also a guest in the Top 5 in the fourth quarter: the Dell OptiPlex 3090 received 1,356 clicks. The thin client works with a 12th generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8 GB RAM and 256 GB of SSD storage. Dell praises its OptiPlex series as particularly secure, with security features such as TPM 2.0, a standard device for a security lock, a device for a padlock and a circuit breaker and an SED hard drive. The Dell OptiPlex 3000 with Core i3 processor has also improved impressively, from 218th to 13th place.

Graphics cards: Fast, faster, GeForce RTX 4090

With 4,444 clicks, the MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GAMING X 8G LHR is and remains the most popular graphics card on the ITscope platform. Not only there though, as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 is also one of the most frequently used graphics cards on the gaming platform Steam.

The WSP trend for both the MSI 24GB D6X RTX 4090 Gaming X Trio and the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming OC is already significantly lower than at the start of sales.