The nation’s leading contract notebook computer manufacturers should see shipments regain growth momentum this quarter, after shipments weakened last quarter due to supply constraints and the effect of the Lunar New Year holiday, local media reported last week.
However, it remains unclear how shipments from the nation’s five major notebook computer original design manufacturers (ODMs) would fare in the second half of the year, amid uncertainty over possible key component shortages, logistics bottlenecks due to COVID-19 lockdowns and rising inflationary pressure, the reports said.
The five companies are Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), Wistron Corp (緯創), Inventec Corp (英華達) and Pegatron Corp (和碩). As Taiwan’s notebook computer ODMs account for more than 90 percent of global production, their shipment momentum has a high correlation with the dynamic of the global market.
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Global notebook computer shipments grew 19 percent year-on-year to 268 million units last year because of strong commercial demand in the final quarter of the year, Boston-based research firm Strategy Analytics said in a report on Jan. 31.
Strategy Analytics attributed the fourth-quarter performance to Windows 11 enterprise upgrades, which gave Windows notebook computers a boost during the quarter across all regions, despite a slowdown in Chromebook demand in the second half of last year.
In the first quarter of this year, shipments from the nation’s top five notebook ODMs reached 41.6 million to 41.7 million units, representing a quarterly decrease of nearly 20 percent, according to data compiled from the companies’ latest revenue updates released on Friday.
Quanta, the world’s largest contract notebook maker, shipped 16.9 million units last quarter, down 15 percent quarterly and 11 percent annually, while Compal, the world’s No. 2 contract laptop maker, reported shipments of 11.8 million units, down 26.7 percent from the previous quarter and 9.9 percent lower than a year earlier, company data showed.
Wistron, Inventec and Pegatron reported shipments of 5.6 million, 5 million and 2.3 million to 2.4 million units respectively, down 25.66 percent, 10.71 percent and 20 percent from the previous quarter.
On a yearly basis, the three makers’ shipments increased from 3.7 percent to 5 percent, as demand for hybrid work environments supported the developed market’s growth, while customers’ shift toward mobility boosted the emerging market.
The five ODMs said they have clear order visibility through the end of the first half of the year, with Inventec expecting a slight growth in notebook shipments this quarter, while Compal and Wistron forecast shipments would grow about 10 percent compared with the first quarter.
Pegatron also maintained its previous forecast and estimated that second-quarter shipments would increase by 25 to 30 percent from the first quarter, but Quanta said it was difficult to provide guidance for second-quarter shipments due to uncertainties.
Given the lingering shortage of key components and lockdowns in Shanghai and Kunshan, China, the five ODMs said that the adverse effects from the disease prevention measures on the notebook computer supply chain were expected to emerge later this month, local media reported.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would also affect the European market, while rising global inflation and port congestion would also impact shipments in the second half of the year, the companies said.
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