The nation's shipments of notebook computers will grow by 10 percent this year as buyers switch from desktops to laptops, an industry watcher said yesterday.
"As large brands such as HP [Hewlett-Packard] and Dell are upbeat about strong demand as laptops replace desktops worldwide, shipments of notebook computers in Taiwan are expected to reach over 29 million units this year, a 10 percent increase from last year," said Joseph Lee (李強), a researcher at the Taipei-based Topology Research Institute (拓墣產業研究所).
The estimate includes more than 5 million brand-name products by companies such as Acer and Asus. The rest would be shipped as original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products, Lee said.
Quanta Computer Inc (
Compal Electronics Inc (
Wistron Corp (
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), which is selling more products bearing its own name and supplies high-end notebooks for Sony Corp, was tied for fourth position with Inventec Corp (英業達), which has received orders from Toshiba Corp. Asustek and Inventec were expected to ship about 3.5 million units each this year.
As mobile computing becomes more popular, up to 90 percent of this year's notebooks will be shipped with Intel Corp's Centrino chipset, which enables wireless computing, Lee said.
As a result, small portable computers with 12-inch screens could become mainstream this year, he added.
The institute also announced its estimate of global notebook shipments for the year, saying the number is expected to rise to between 43 million and 46 million units from around 38 million last year.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS