2023 ERA Market Guidelines

Recently, I was a guest at a 2023 Market Forecast presentation hosted by the National Electrical Representatives Association. The keynote speaker was Dennis Reed, Senior Research Analyst at Edgewater Research. Edgewater Research focuses on Consumer, Technology, and Internet business, which all include vertical markets that are significant drivers in the global market. These markets are the same markets in which Tek Pak provides packaging solutions for food, medical and electronic products.

The keynote speech started with a familiar cliché statement based on the extensive research done at Edgewater. When summarizing, the 2022 Market was best described as "the 2022 markets came in like a lion but exited more like a lamb". For example, PC sales in 2022 were expected to be at 365 million units but finished the year closer to 285 million. The same thing occurred in the cell phone industry; sales were expected at 1.5 billion, but at the end of the year, sales were more like 1.35 billion. While several markets were under expectations, there was still an overall growth of 6%, with price increases accounting for approximately 3.4% of that.

Dennis then provided a somewhat subdued yet optimistic forecast for 2023. Edgewater says that 2023 will begin instead in the status quo worldwide. They also see Covid creating little to minimal influence on the economy overall. And they do not see any significant pending setbacks lurking in the U.S. The lower-than-expected sales in many areas have created overly large inventories that will take the first six months of 2023 to work down to acceptable levels. As for lead times from overseas products, which in the last two years could be as long as 18 months, in 2023, suppliers may quote 40 weeks, but delivery to docks may be in 30 weeks, with actual delivery to your dock in 12-15 weeks.  

Here at Tek Pak, we continue to have a very healthy double-digit growth year over year. We are encouraged by what we have seen and our outlook for the remainder of 2023. Here's one of the reasons we're so optimistic about our industry in 2023. Edgewater specifically called out that during the Pandemic, many new product designs were set aside at companies that redirected all resources to find second and even third-sourcing opportunities for their current lines. In 2023, many companies are going back to developing those new product designs. Many of these are produced in high-volume production lines using robotic chip placement on carrier tape and thermoformed packaging to bring them to market.

The 2023 mantra at Tek Pak is to continue to grow and adapt to the market's new needs. New equipment, new facilities, new training, and many new positions will be added in the coming months. Tek Pak is always in the market for new talent to join our innovative thermoforming team. For more information on Tek Pak and joining our thermoforming team, please browse our website and Careers web page.