More than 1,700 local and global chipmakers and electronics suppliers, including US chip giant Intel Corp, are to showcase their latest products during the annual Computex Taipei this week, attempting to attract consumers amid the economic downturn with more powerful performance and affordable prices.
This year, 1,712 electronics companies are to take part in the world’s second-biggest computer trade show in Taipei, showed statistics from the Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北市電腦公會), one of the Computex organizers.
A decrease of less than 1 percent from last year’s 1,725 exhibitors at Computex shows a stark contrast to a 20 percent decline at Germany’s CeBIT, the world’s biggest computer show, and a 7 percent drop at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year, TCA said.
This year, the stars of the show are again set to be netbook and notebook computers makers, which will introduce more powerful products, though leading suppliers of netbooks such as Acer Inc (宏碁) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) declined to make public statements before the show’s opening.
Micro-star International Co Ltd (微星) said it would showcase next-generation netbook laptops, including one equipped with Intel’s consumer ultra-low voltage chip, which is more often used in standard notebook computers rather than netbooks.
Showing its ambition to transform its business, local chip designer VIA Technologies Inc (威盛電子) plans to showcase next-generation processors for netbooks and PCs, featuring high-definition video performance that consumes 50 percent less power, the Sindian-based company said.
VIA is a major netbook solution for Chinese non-brand netbook makers. It is reported that the company may display new third-generation (3G) handset chips during Computex, ahead of shipment to Chinese telecoms operators such as China Telecom (中國電信) later this year.
Intel and Microsoft Corp will also demonstrate their new products along with their local electronics partners to spur a round of replacement demand, and all-in-one PCs may be the new focus for visitors during this year’s trade show.
“Microsoft Inc’s new Windows 7 operating system, [which is] to hit the market in [the] fall, will inject new life into all-in-one PCs, as the system supports touch input function and the price is more friendly than before,” market researcher DRAMeXchange Technology Inc (集邦科技) said in a report last week.
In addition to notebooks, all-in-one PCs may be a new selection for consumers who want to replace their old desktops after prices drop, DRAMeXchange said.
As of the final quarter of this year, shipments of all-in-one PCs may hit 3.5 million units, or about 10 percent of total desktop shipments, the Taipei-based researcher said.
“Apparently, exhibitors are hoping to turn the crisis into opportunities by displaying powerful and smartly designed [products] at Computex,” said Chag Li (張笠), a deputy secretary-general of TCA.
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