Acer Inc (宏碁) said yesterday netbooks could make up as much as 25 percent of its total notebook computer shipments this year, as more telecoms operators have started selling low-cost laptops along with regular services.
Acer, the world’s third-largest PC maker, has said it may ship between 12 million and 15 million netbook laptops this year. It said it shipped 33.54 million laptops last year, citing market researcher Gartner Inc’s tally. The PC company did not provide figures on its netbook shipments for last year.
“Demand in the US is still strong because more telecoms operators are selling our netbooks bundled with their services. They see third-generation services as a means to help boost their business,” Acer chairman Wang Jeng-tang (王振堂) said. “Consumers are willing to spend money on netbooks during the economic downturn.”
Research firm IDC has raised its forecast for global netbook shipments this year by 20 percent to 26.4 million from its previous estimate of 22 million units, on the back of strong demand from Latin America, Asia and the US.
This year, netbook shipments may account for 15 percent to 25 percent of Acer’s total notebook shipments, Wang said.
That would help Acer achieve its goal of deposing Hewlett Packard Co as the world’s largest notebook computer maker next year, one year earlier than its original target year of 2011, Wang said.
Acer is currently ranked No. 2 with a 19.7 percent share of the world’s laptop computer market, while Hewlett Packard has 22.1 percent, Wang said.
Overall sales of notebook computers were a bit slow recently as the bleak economy in the US and Europe curtailed purchases of computers, Wang said, adding that he remained cautious about the outlook for the PC industry.
Tight supplies of key components also dragged down the pace of the industry’s recovery, he said.
Acer shares climbed 3.19 percent to NT$58.2 yesterday, outperforming the benchmark TAIEX index, which rose 2.95 percent yesterday.
A proposed 100 percent tariff on chip imports announced by US President Donald Trump could shift more of Taiwan’s semiconductor production overseas, a Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) researcher said yesterday. Trump’s tariff policy will accelerate the global semiconductor industry’s pace to establish roots in the US, leading to higher supply chain costs and ultimately raising prices of consumer electronics and creating uncertainty for future market demand, Arisa Liu (劉佩真) at the institute’s Taiwan Industry Economics Database said in a telephone interview. Trump’s move signals his intention to "restore the glory of the US semiconductor industry," Liu noted, saying that
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
RSS