Taiwan NB PC Makers to Gain From Toshiba's Bigger Global Share

Taipei, June 30, 2008 (CENS)--Taiwan suppliers of notebook PCs, including Quanta Computer Inc., Compal Electronics Inc. and Inventec Corp., are expected to benefit from Toshiba's move to attain a 15% global market share by 2010, according to industry sources.

Statistics compiled by IDC (International Data Corp.) show that Toshiba was No. 5 notebook PC brand globally last year with a 17.9% share. However, facing Apple's intensifying threat in the market, the brand is focusing on promoting its consumer notebook PCs, aiming to achieve annual shipment of 28.5 million units to become a top-3 brand by 2010.

Right after learning Intel's decision to postpone launching its new platform Motevina, Toshiba recently leapt to launch 4 new notebook PCs for sale in different segments, aiming to boost its shipment. Industry insiders project the brand's shipment of notebook PCs to reach 13 million units this year, with about 9 million units to be outsourced from the aforementioned Taiwan contract suppliers.

Half of the 9 million units will be supplied by Quanta, with the remaining to be shared between Compal and Inventec. However, Toshiba this year hasn't placed new orders with Asustek Computer Inc.'s affiliate Pegatron Corp., who just joined the brand's supply chain last year.

Incidentally, Quanta, Compal and Wistron Corporation were world's top-three contract suppliers of notebook PCs in the first quarter of this year, commanding a share of 31%, 24% and 16%, respectively, according to DisplaySearch. Toshiba ranked No. 4 in sales of notebook PCs with a share of 9.9% globally; however the brand ranked third in sales of consumer models, only trailing HP and Acer in the same quarter.