Notebook PC manufacturers Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), Winstron Corp (緯創), Pegatron Technology Corp (和碩) and Inventec Corp (英業達) are expected to benefit from the decision by Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) to delegate whole system notebook assembly and shipment to local producers, industry analysts said.
Lenovo will augment its notebook lineup of professional business models, the ThinkPad series, with an increasing focus on regular user-oriented models, the IdeaPad series.
The switch from bare-bone systems shipped to Lenovo, which then assembles them with key components to the new process of having Taiwanese manufacturers assemble and ship whole systems is a complicated deal, said Helen Chiang (江芬韻 ), a research manager at IDC.
Each manufacturer received a different proportion of whole system and bare-bone orders from Lenovo and it is yet to be seen how this proportion will change under the new arrangement, she said.
IDC estimates the average selling price (ASP) of whole systems for manufacturers to be US$400 to US$450, whereas bare-bone systems reach an ASP of US$200 to US$250.
"However, the profit margin in the bare-bone systems production is much higher than whole systems, therefore, a manufacturer's profit margin depends on the proportion of the type of order it receives," Chiang said.
The IdeaPad series, targeted at the vast consumers notebook market, is expected to debut in March next year. The orders will be divided between different Taiwan-based manufacturers, but the new series is not intended to compete in the low priced notebook niche just yet -- which analysts predict will set the trend this year -- said Bruce Sheng (沈汝康), Lenovo public relations manager.
The new arrangement will not affect the share prices of these Taiwan manufacturers very much, said Hsiao Sean-Ryan (蕭文良), an analyst with Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦證券投顧), who pointed out that the profit margins in either whole system or bare-bone orders are low, therefore a manufacturer's revenues may increase, but its profit margin will see little change.
However, Chiang said that the differing circumstances of each manufacturer means that the new arrangement with Lenovo would impact in varying degrees.
Chiang said that, for a company like Pegatron, which had a good client roster in 2005 and 2006 but saw original equipment manufacturer customers decline last year, its biggest customer is parent company AsusTek Computers Inc (華碩), which is estimated to account for more than 40 percent of its orders.
The top priority, therefore, for Pegatron is to expand its customer base.
"Pegatron's main challenge this year is how to attract orders from major notebook brands. Whether it manages to obtain Lenovo orders will be important," she said.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
Artificial intelligence (AI) giant Nvidia Corp’s most advanced chips would be reserved for US companies and kept out of China and other countries, US President Donald Trump said. During an interview that aired on Sunday on CBS’ 60 Minutes program and in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said only US customers should have access to the top-end Blackwell chips offered by Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization. “The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States,” he told CBS, echoing remarks made earlier to reporters as he returned to Washington
RSS