Among all brand-name notebook-computer makers, Apple Computer Inc is set to take center stage next year, mainly bolstered by its new light-weight models as well as the iPod effect, a recent study found.
Apple is projected to ship 3.27 million notebook computers worldwide next year, an increase of 42 percent compared to 2.29 million units this year, according to study results released by the Topology Research Institute (拓墣產業研究所).
This translates to Apple's market share in the worldwide notebook market rising to 4.7 percent from 3.9 percent this year.
"Compared to other makers which will post only moderate growth, Apple's performance is significant and worth paying attention to," Topology analyst Simon Yang (楊勝帆) said.
According to Yang, Apple notebooks are poised to grab consumers' attention next year as the company will unveil light-weight models with a stylish design aimed at luring female users.
Compared to its current bulky and older models, the upcoming Apple lineup will include 12-inch notebooks weighing in at 1.5kg as well as 14-inch models below 2kg, he said.
In addition, as the iPod digital-music-player series have been selling like hot cakes because of the large storage size they offer and their fashionable exterior, the "fondness effect" will be passed on to Apple notebooks, he said.
On the other hand, he said, NEC Computer Corp's shrinking market share might serve as a warning to Apple.
The research firm estimates that NEC's notebook shipments will rise to 2.64 million units from 2.54 million units, but the company's market share will decline 0.5 percentage points to 3.8 percent next year.
"NEC has been putting too much emphasis on the Japanese market, prompting it to lose market share elsewhere and it lacks a niche market to compete with other aggressive players," Yang said.
Meanwhile, Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co, Toshiba Corp, Acer Inc as well as Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) are expected to maintain their respective positions as the world's top-five notebook makers next year, according to the Taipei-based research house.
The market shares of HP, Acer and Lenovo will be up marginally, with Dell and Toshiba showing a slight decline, it said.
"Among the top five, Lenovo will still face a setback in other markets even though its products are highly accepted in China. It needs to do more to assure users of the product quality after acquiring IBM Corp's PC business," Yang said.
Overall, global notebook shipments next year will grow by 17.8 percent to reach 69.5 million units, mainly driven by lower pricings and the new Intel dual-core platform, which is due to be launched next month.
This estimate is similar to the figures given by Market Intelligence Center (市場情報中心), another local market researcher.
MIC forecast in October that worldwide notebook shipments next year will hit 71.2 million units, demonstrating a healthy growth of 19.8 percent.
It said that, combined with the volume of desktop computers, which will reach 135 million units, the total shipments of all personal computers will surpass the 200 million mark for the first time.
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that it is considering further capacity expansion as customers are requesting more capacity due to rising end-market demand and persistent supply constraints. The Hsinchu-based company said that emerging technologies and applications from 5G, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles are driving semiconductor demand. The semiconductor industry has a positive outlook for this year and beyond, with shipments of all diameters of wafers to increase through 2023, GlobalWafers said. “We have received requests for expansion from many strategic partners. We are now in discussions with customers,” company chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told a
OUTBREAK: About 200 of the airline’s 1,200 pilots are not able to work. Most of them have been quarantined to prevent further infection, but 12 have COVID-19 China Airlines Ltd (CAL,中華航空) yesterday confirmed that it would temporarily reduce its cargo flight services to cope with a pilot shortage, as one-sixth of its pilots have been sidelined by a COVID-19 outbreak. “We are working out a new schedule,” the airline said in a statement after local news media reports on Saturday said that it would be reducing its cargo services from Wednesday, primarily affecting US destinations. CAL declined to give details about its new operating plan, but the reports said that it would be suspending its cargo flights to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and
XSEMI: The new venture would consolidate the strengths and resources of the two market leaders to secure chip supply and offer clients total solutions, the partners said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Yageo Corp (國巨) yesterday signed an agreement to form a joint venture called XSemi Corp (國瀚半導體) to develop” small ICs” priced under US$2 per unit, marking the latest effort by Hon Hai to bolster its foothold in the semiconductor market. The collaboration fits into Hon Hai’s plans for expansion by providing a steady supply of small semiconductors, while also serving the global market, the companies said in a joint statement. The new company, to be located in Hsinchu, would “consolidate the strengths and resources of the two market leaders” to provide a “complete semiconductor
German semiconductor producer Infineon Technologies AG on Tuesday said that microchip supply bottlenecks could continue into next year, in a blow to the auto industry. “We predict that the imbalance between supply and demand will continue for a few quarters yet, with the risk that it lasts into 2022,” Infineon chief executive Reinhard Ploss said in a virtual news conference. He added that the “bottlenecks” are a particular problem for the Munich-based company in areas where they do not produce the chips themselves, but buy them from subcontractors to equip microcontrollers for vehicles or smart appliances. The auto industry remains plagued by
RSS