Taipei, Aug. 17, 2007 (CENS)--Thanks to the strong demand for consumer-type notebook personal computers (NB PC), Quanta Computer Inc. and Wistron Corp., both contract manufacturers of the U.S.-based Dell Computer Inc., will increase shipments in the third quarter of this year.

Dell, world`s second-largest NB brand, is said to see a tight supply, so is expected to push for increased shipments from contract manufacturers. As such, an institutional investor predicted Quanta will be able to see monthly shipments exceed three million units of NBs in August and help it create a historic high.

A domestic distributor of 3C (consumer electronics, communications, computers) products noted that supply of consumer-type NBs, including those supplied by Dell, Hewlett Packard and Acer, has been very tight since the beginning of the third quarter of this year, with Dell encountering the most strained supply of such products.

In addition to booming sales, according to an industry analyst, the tight supply plaguing Dell can be also attributed to the short supply of such key components and accessories as flat panels and batteries.

Over the past few months Dell has altered sales strategy to focus on the distributor channels, rather than through direct marketing. At present, Dell NBs are sold through some 3,500 outlets of the world`s largest retailer Wal-Mart and the outlets of Japan`s discount home-appliance retailer BicCamera. Taiwan`s Tsann Kuen Enterprise Co. has also expressed its willingness to add Dell`s consumer-type NBs, dubbed Inspiron, into its product portfolio.

Quanta shipped 2.8 million units of NBs in July, less than the market expected three million units. Thanks to the booming demand for Dell`s consumer-type NBs, Quanta is expected to see shipments hit a historic high record in August.

An institutional investor noted Wistron would begin shipping a brand-new consumer-type NBs for Dell sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. It is expected Quanta and Wistron will become Dell`s major contract manufacturers for consumer-type NBs next year. But contract manufacture of Dell`s business-type NBs will be dominated by Compal Electronics Inc. and Wistron, with the former to become Dell`s largest contract manufacturer worldwide.

(by Ben Shen)