Global notebook computer shipments in the second quarter of this year are expected to grow dramatically following better-than-expected figures in the January to March period, a Taipei-based analyst firm said yesterday.
Digitimes Research forecast worldwide notebook shipments of 55 million units in the second quarter, a 17.6 percent quarterly increase and a 9.5 percent rise year-on-year.
“This points to a full recovery of the industry in 2012,” Digitimes senior analyst Joanne Chien (簡佩萍) said.
She predicted that global notebook shipments for the whole year would reach 236 million units, up 17 percent from last year, with the introduction of more low to medium-priced models and the release of Microsoft Corp’s Windows 8 operating system.
In terms of brand breakdown, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Apple Inc are both expected to post 30 percent growth, with the former very likely to replace Dell Inc as the world’s fourth-largest notebook brand, she said.
However, Samsung Electronics Co and Toshiba Corp, which also did well in the first three months, might have a hard time in the second quarter, Chien said.
The South Korean and Japanese companies will not be able to maintain their momentum because they are struggling to keep up with the average growth rate of the industry, she said.
Global shipments of Ultrabooks are forecast at 1.5 million units in the second quarter, about the same as the expected strong showing by Apple’s MacBook Air. However, Ultrabooks will continue to trail in the notebook market, accounting for only 2.7 percent of the total, Chien forecast.
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