Notebook exports to increase 25.3 percent: analyst

Laptop exports from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China are expected to reach 113 million units this year, representing an annual growth of 25.3 percent, an analyst for the Market Intelligence Center (MIC) of the Institute for Information Industry forecast on Saturday.

Export growth is expected to slow this year as a result of a shortage of battery cells, Huang Yi-chuan (黃怡瑄) said.

Last year, Huang said, laptop exports from the region hit 27.55 million units in the fourth quarter, representing a year-on-year increase of 38.7 percent, with exports bound mainly for the European and North American markets.

For the whole year, the region's exports totaled 90.16 million units last year, representing a year-on-year growth of 40.08 percent, MIC statistics indicated.

In terms of production value, the MIC tallies indicated that the average sales price of notebooks declined from US$529 in the third quarter of last year to US$522 in the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the export value of notebook computers from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong totaled US$14.385 billion, with an annual growth of 25.7 percent.