Notebook sales are set to drop by 10 percent globally this year, according to Taipei-based market research group Digitimes Research.
In a report, Digitimes said that worldwide notebook shipments this year are expected to be about 156.26 million units, down 9.7 percent from a year earlier.
The research group said the global notebook market underwent inventory adjustments in the first half, and seasonal demand in the second half could still fail to lift demand.
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Purchases are set to fall despite the launches of Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system and Intel’s Skylake central processing unit, which are expected later this year, Digitimes said.
Its forecast excluded hybrid devices which function as both notebooks and tablets.
The researcher said that since the global economy has shown signs of slowing down and a strong US dollar has compromised demand in emerging economies, the global notebook computer market is expected to remain slow in the second half.
The IMF has cut the world’s economic growth outlook for this year to 3.3 percent from an earlier estimate of 3.5 percent, while expectations the US Federal Reserve is set to raise rates this year has strengthened the value of the greenback.
In the first quarter, global notebook computer shipments fell 4.8 percent from a year earlier to 37.59 million units, and in the second quarter sales dropped 9.4 percent year-on-year to 38.32 million units, according to Digitimes.
In the third quarter, notebook shipments are expected to fall 12 percent annually to 39.29 million units while sales are expected to fall 12 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter to 41.07 million units, Digitimes said.
Digitimes said that Apple Inc would outperform other international brands in the second half.
In terms of contract manufacturers, Taiwan-based Wistron Corp (緯創) is expected to benefit from increased orders from Hewlett-Packard Co, Acer Corp (宏碁) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) in the second half, Digitimes said.
Pegatron Corp (和碩) is expected to see orders from Asustek and Toshiba Corp increasing, the researcher said.
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