Researcher expects rise in notebook shipments

The nation's shipments of notebook computers will grow by 10 percent this year as buyers switch from desktops to laptops, an industry watcher said yesterday.

"As large brands such as HP [Hewlett-Packard] and Dell are upbeat about strong demand as laptops replace desktops worldwide, shipments of notebook computers in Taiwan are expected to reach over 29 million units this year, a 10 percent increase from last year," said Joseph Lee (李強), a researcher at the Taipei-based Topology Research Institute (拓墣產業研究所).

The estimate includes more than 5 million brand-name products by companies such as Acer and Asus. The rest would be shipped as original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products, Lee said.

Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) was expected to remain the nation's largest OEM source of notebooks this year with estimated annual shipments of up to 13 million units, according to the institute. Its clients include Hewlett-Packard Development Company and Dell Inc.

Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦) was expected to take second place, producing 8.5 million to 9.5 million units this year.

Wistron Corp (緯創), which secured orders from IBM Corp, Acer Inc and Dell Inc, was expected to produce up to 4 million units, becoming the nation's third-largest laptop OEM this year.

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), which is selling more products bearing its own name and supplies high-end notebooks for Sony Corp, was tied for fourth position with Inventec Corp (英業達), which has received orders from Toshiba Corp. Asustek and Inventec were expected to ship about 3.5 million units each this year.

As mobile computing becomes more popular, up to 90 percent of this year's notebooks will be shipped with Intel Corp's Centrino chipset, which enables wireless computing, Lee said.

As a result, small portable computers with 12-inch screens could become mainstream this year, he added.

The institute also announced its estimate of global notebook shipments for the year, saying the number is expected to rise to between 43 million and 46 million units from around 38 million last year.