Notebook ODM shipments expected to see on-month drop in October

Aaron Lee, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Monday 22 October 2012]

As Microsoft is ready to launch its latest Windows 8 operating system and brand vendors are prepared to push for year-end holiday demand, sources from notebook ODMs have pointed out that their shipment volumes in October are expected to be weaker than those of September.

The drop in October shipment volumes are because most brand vendors demanded their Windows 8 notebooks be shipped in September in order to met with Microsoft's launch.

As for shipments in November, the sources noted that their orders will depend on sales of the new Windows 8 notebooks and there is a chance for them to achieve sequential growth in fourth-quarter shipments, although the percentage will be limited.

In September, the sources noted that they shipped 3.5 million notebooks to Hewlett-Packard (HP), up from two million units in August, but shipments to the vendor are expected to drop to only three million units in October. Meanwhile, ODM shipments to Acer in September also rose more than 30% on month, but will suffer a 10% on-month drop in October.

In addition to a higher comparison base in September, China's National Day holidays in early October were also a driver for ODMs' dropping shipments in October as their capacity output in the month has dropped 25% compared to normal months.

Compal Electronics president Ray Chen also recently pointed out that he expects the company's notebook shipments in 2012 to hold level or drop slightly on year, with shipments in the fourth quarter to reach 12 million units, up 20% from the third quarter.

Microsoft Windows 8 will affect notebook ODMs' shipments in October
Photo: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes file photo