Taiwan shipped 5.6 million notebook computers in the second quarter of the year, an increase of around 23 percent on the same period last year, according to recent statistics from the nation's semi-official Market Intelligence Center (MIC). The value of the shipments was US$3.6 billion, up 6.2 percent year-on-year.
The outlook for the next three months is also good, according to US-based research firm DisplaySearch, which looks at the global computer display industry.
The number of notebook PCs sold this quarter will grow 20 percent compared to last quarter, DisplaySearch predicts. With other research firms, DisplaySearch has forecast that notebooks will soon be the computer of choice for most users.
"Over the next several years, the growth of notebook shipments is expected to outpace the growth of desktop shipments," International Data Corp said in May this year.
Apple Computer Inc has seen the proportion of notebook computers it sells increase dramatically over the last twelve months. In the second quarter of last year, one third of all computers the company sold were notebooks. By the same period this year, that proportion had jumped to 46 percent -- or 351,000 out of a total of 771,000 -- according to Apple's second quarter results released last month.
Users are switching to notebooks because computing power is now comparable to desktop computers, graphics are better, browsing the Internet can be done with wireless communications and batteries last longer due to improved technologies, DisplaySearch said.
The same technological improvements have made notebooks slimmer and lighter. In addition, budget concerns have forced many corporations to restrict employees to just one computer.
In the past, notebooks were seen as the extension of a more powerful office-bound computer for workers frequently on the road.
An improving economic outlook could indicate increased sales for notebook manufacturers as corporations finally replace older models. Last week, researcher Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) revised upward its forecast for global growth to 3.2 percent from 2.9 percent this year and 3.9 percent next year from 3.7 percent, "mainly as a result of the stronger short-term outlook for Japan," the firm reported.
The world's largest economy will also improve, EIU said.
"We have also revised up our US GDP growth forecast to 2.4 percent for 2003 and 3.3 percent for 2004 (from 2.2 percent and 3.2 percent respectively), as the latest indicators suggest that demand growth will be slightly stronger than previously assumed during the coming few months," the firm said.
Taiwan is well-placed to soak up most of the market growth, with three quarters of the world's notebooks made here. Quanta Computer Inc (
"Almost three-quarters of all notebooks produced in the second half of 2002 were produced by contract manufacturers," the IDC report said.
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