Notebook makers' market share to hit 90% in 2009

The world market share of notebook computers made by Taiwan is expected to grow from 82.4 percent this year to 90 percent in 2009, an Institute for Information Industry (資策會) official said yesterday.

Shen Chu-san (沈舉三), deputy director of the institute's Market Intelligence Center (市場情報中心), told a market trend seminar that in 2001, the proportion of the world's desktop and laptop computers was about 80 percent to 20 percent, the figure became 70 percent to 30 percent this year and in 2009 it should be 60 percent to 40 percent.

The share of notebooks in the computer market has been growing mainly because wireless technology has matured and more and more entertainment functions in multi-media devices have been designed, Shen said.

Taking emerging markets in Asia, Middle East and Latin America as examples, he said that from 2002 to next year, desktop computers will grow at an annual rate of 12.7 percent, while sales of notebooks will increase rapidly in mature markets like Japan, North America and Western Europe.

He also predicted that the total value of Taiwan-made digital cameras will grow 40.8 percent to US$2.7 billion this year.

With notebook computers and digital cameras enjoying brisk sales, the hardware output of Taiwan's information industry is expected to grow 11 percent this year to US$77 billion, he said.

He also forecast that Taiwan's information industry will continue to expand at an average rate of 10 percent per annum as it reaches maturity.