Notebook PC production predicted to rise 45% this year

Taiwanese notebook PC manufacturers are expected to increase production by more than 45 percent this year, according to the findings of a survey released by trade sourcing group Global Sources Ltd yesterday.

The report, "Notebook PCs & Accessories: Supplier Capability in China and Taiwan," also shows that around 80 percent of Taiwan-ese manufacturers' output will be made in China. That figure compares to 65 percent last year, Global Sources said.

The report profiles 131 manufac-turers of notebook PCs and related accessories in China and Taiwan. It examines issues such as pricing, production capacity, research and development and design trends.

Based on the report, Taiwanese manufacturers -- including Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world's largest contract notebook PC maker, and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電子), the world's second largest -- are estimated to produce 33.5 million notebook PCs this year, an increase of 45.7 percent from 2003.

"Taiwan manufacturers produce six out of 10 notebook computers sold worldwide. Ninety-two percent of their output is sold under the leading brand names in the industry, such as Compaq, Toshiba, HP and Dell. To provide their customers high-volume, low-cost manufacturing, Taiwan companies rely on contract manufacturers in China," Global Sources Publisher Mark Saunderson said in a statement on the report.

The report said that in order to gain better access to China's computer market, an increasing number of Taiwanese makers have shifted their production sites across the Taiwan Strait in recent years, making Shanghai, Suzhou and Wujiang the key production centers for notebook PCs there.

Overall, the Chinese market will absorb at least 1.8 million notebooks this year, up 43 percent from 2003, and it will expand by at least 20 percent annually until 2008, the report said.

Of those notebook PCs made in China, up to 70 percent are equipped with Intel Corp's Centrino solution, the report said. The Centrino effect, which began growing in earnest in the second half of last year, continue to drive the market, as the processor supports wireless connections between various components of a PC network.

Even so, because the global demand is not as strong as market watchers expected earlier this year, the semi-official Taipei-based Market Intelligence Center (資訊市場情報中心) trimmed its forecast for overall laptop shipments by Taiwanese manufacturers this year from 47.5 million units to 46.7 million.