Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦), the world’s second-largest contract notebook computer maker, yesterday said the notebook market would speed up its pace of growth in 2013 as more ultra-slim models and high value-added products are introduced.
The company said it would target more high-value products to reinforce its gross profit margin, instead of focusing solely on shipping volume.
“The expansion of tablet-PC market will not cannibalize the growth of the traditional notebook market, as newly-launched notebook products will drive up the replacement trend in 2013,” company president Ray Chen (陳瑞聰) told a media briefing at Computex, where the company displayed several prototype notebooks with a lighter case and high efficiency, extended life battery.
Compal also revised downward its notebook shipment estimate for this year from 55 million to 48 million units because of expected lower netbook shipments this year.
“We decided to lower full-year netbook shipment by 6 million units, as the netbook’s market will possibly be eroded by the growth of tablets in the near term,” Chen said.
However, the company maintained its forecast of an increase of 5 percent to 10 percent for the global notebook market this year from last year, with similar growth expected to continue next year.
In addition to notebooks, tablets, digital TVs and smartphones will be the company’s primary growth drivers.
Chen said the company would meet its tablet shipment of 3.8 million units for this year, as a supply shortage of touch panels and touch sensors is expected to be solved next month.
For tablet production, Compal will leverage its close relationship with US handset chip developer Qualcomm Inc through its handset making subsidiary, Compal Communications Inc (華寶通訊), he added.
However, Chen said the number of tablet orders was higher than the company could ship and expected Apple Inc’s iPad to still likely account for between 75 percent to 80 percent of global tablet shipments — 55 million to 60 million units — this year, Chen said.
The company expects the shipment of digital TVs to total 8 million for this year, up from last year’s 5.4 million, he said.
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