Global notebook computer shipments are expected to increase by between 15 percent and 17 percent annually next year as sales of Microsoft Corp’s new Windows 7 system may spur replacement demand, a Taipei-based researcher said yesterday.
DRAMeXchange Technologies Inc (集邦科技) said consumer replacement demand would become substantial in the second quarter of next year as people tend to be conservative on early adoption.
The research house did not provide specific figures for next year’s notebook computer shipments.
Microsoft’s new operating system is scheduled to hit the market later this month. Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s third-biggest PC vendor, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that it would start distributing its first Windows 7-based models next Thursday.
“We believe the global economic recovery and the launch of Windows 7 should provide Acer with a notebook shipment upside in 2010,” HSBC Securities analyst Wang Wanli (王萬里) said yesterday.
He forecast Acer’s notebook shipments to reach 40 million units next year, up from his previous estimate of 37.5 million units.
DRAMeXchange said corporate replacement demand for Windows 7 models would not be significant until the second half of next year after more applications, software and compatibility problems are ironed out.
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