The nation's PC shipments grew 4 percent in the third quarter as consumers upgraded to Vista-enabled PCs, market researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday, adding that the momentum would carry into this quarter because of seasonal demand.
Traditionally strong PC year-end sales will be further boosted by strong orders from government agencies in a hurry to use up their budgets before the year's end, IDC said, predicting overall PC shipments would increase another 4 percent annually, or 25 percent quarterly, in the fourth quarter.
IDC did not, however, expect the annual information technology device fair IT Month to result in a significant boost to PC sales, said analyst Dickie Chang, based in Taipei.
Chang did not expect shortages of components such as battery packs to impact on PC shipments this quarter.
Last quarter, PC vendors including the top two brands Asustek Computer Inc (
"PC sales regained momentum in the third quarter as consumers become better acquainted with Vista's functions," Chang said.
Consumers were hesitant when Microsoft Corp launched its new operating system in the first quarter and have waited to see how well the system performs before upgrading to Vista-enabled computers, Chang said.
A healthy stock market in the first half of the year also lifted PC sales, as investors were more willing to spend on electronic devices, he said.
In the laptop market, shipments grew faster than predicted at 13 percent year-on-year, or 41 percent at a quarterly rate, to 257,352 units in the third quarter.
The growth was fueled by demand for new products launched by top vendors, IDC said, citing Acer's Gemstone series.
Government agencies' purchases also helped boost laptop sales, IDC said.
The market researcher said there have been no significant changes to the ranking of top PC makers, with Asustek and Acer still the nation's top two brands.
Shipments of desktop computers, meanwhile, expanded 18 percent quarter-on-quarter to 478,473 units last quarter.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last