Taiwan Notebook Makers Experience Sales Slump

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Credit: f-l-e-x/Flickr
Credit: f-l-e-x/Flickr

Are notebook PC makers feeling the pinch from Apple’s line of portable computers? A trio of Taiwan-based notebook manufacturers announced July orders fell by up to 25 percent.

Quanta, which had a goal of 10-20 percent growth for the third quarter, announced July notebook shipment fell 25 percent to 3.6 million units compared to June. Compal said shipments dropped 20 percent to between 3.2 million and 3.3 million units for the same period. Wistron announced June shipments were off 13.7 percent.


Along with weak demand, the companies said some buyers were switching delivery methods in an attempt to save cost. The switch from sea to air accelerated some shipments meant for July to June.

Earlier this week, analysts downgraded chipmaker Intel and hard drive maker Seagate on concern of weakening demand for notebook PCs. JP Morgan analyst Christopher Danely told investors order for Taiwan PCs are “falling off a cliff.”

Additionally, we reported on a new survey of incoming college students indicating the majority were bringing Apple laptops, not PC mobile devices to U.S. dorms. The Student Monitor survey found Apple laptops were favored by 47 percent of students yet to purchase a computer for school, while 27 percent of students who already bought a computer for class favored mobile Macs.

Dell was No. 2 with 24 percent of students, followed by 15 percent for HP and 10 percent for Toshiba.

[Barron’s]

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