Notebook computers churned out by local makers are expected to report growth of more than 30 percent in the first three months of the year, thanks to ample panel supplies, which will drive down costs, a research firm said.
Local contract computer makers are poised to produce a total of 12.89 million portable computers in the first quarter, representing an increase of 35.6 percent growth over the same period a year ago, according to a report released last week by Market Intelligence Center (MIC,
"The industry prospect looks good in the traditionally weak first quarter. More brandname notebook firms will introduce cheaper machines, as sufficient stocks of panels will bring down overall production costs," MIC analyst Albert Chen (
These include such Japanese firms as Toshiba Corp and Sony Corp, which are expected to outsource more production to local makers in the near term.
"Japanese brands are attempting to lower their production costs by outsourcing, in a bid to compete in the lower-priced notebook category," Chen said.
The momentum will further cement the nation's No. 1 position in the global notebook manufacturing sector, as local production is forecast to account for 86.5 percent of the global volume in the first quarter, up from 77.3 percent a year earlier, he said.
MIC estimated that notebook computers will grow worldwide at 22 percent to total 72.52 million units this year, which will outpace desktops' expansion at a mere 5.8 percent at 136.66 million units.
The target shipments set by major contract manufacturers including Compal Electronics Inc (
Shipments of Compal -- the world's second-largest contract notebook maker -- are expected to hit 15 million units, up from around 9.8 million units last year, showing more than 50 percent growth, president and chief executive officer Ray Chen (陳瑞聰) told investors late last month.
"The new Napa mobile-technology platform and the upcoming release of the Microsoft operating system will accelerate overall worldwide notebook demand this year," he said.
Larger rival Quanta foresaw a volume growth of nearly 40 percent to reach 25 million units.
If these projections are to come true, the volumes of Compal and Quanta alone will make up a hefty 55 percent of global shipments this year.
Meanwhile, MIC's statistics indicated that local laptop shipments in the fourth quarter last year were up 45.6 percent from the same period of 2004, with an output of 15.21 million units.
The growth was fueled by a slew of lower-priced machines, strong demand generated from European and American markets, as well as the peak-selling Christmas period, according to the Taipei-based research institution.
The strong shipments translated to Taiwan's 85 percent market share of global production in the last quarter, up from 74.3 percent in 2004, it said.
The total global sales for laptops last year were 59.44 million units, up 28.8 percent from a year ago, MIC said.
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