Despite uncertainties over the outlook for the nation's economy, two local notebook computer manufacturers said yesterday they remained optimistic on sales this year.
One of the major players in the industry, Compal Electronics (仁寶電腦), exceeded its own expectations last year, said a staff member who wished to remain anonymous.
Compal sold 23 million notebook computers, even though sales last month fell approximately 20 percent when compared to November, he said.
So far, worries over the US economy do not seem to have affected sales of notebook computers, he said.
The dip in sales last month did not prevent an estimated 8 percent growth in the overall notebook market from the third to fourth quarter last year.
Compal believes the trend of replacing desktop computers with notebook computers would continue, with notebook computers growing at 25 percent to 30 percent while desktop computer growth would hover at between 5 percent and 6 percent, he said.
Compal is confident of another strong sales performance this year, expecting 30 percent growth to 30 million units, he said.
In line with Compal's estimates, the nation's leading notebook computer manufacturer, AsusTek Computers (Asus, 華碩電腦), is also predicting a better year, notebook products manager Jose Liao (廖逸翔) said.
Asus' entry level model, the Eee PC, has been very well received by the market and was the stellar performer at the year-end computer show in Taipei, a statement on the company's Web site said.
Even discounting sales of the Eee PC, Asus sold 350,000 notebook computers in Taiwan alone last year, Liao said.
Rival computer maker Acer Inc performed very well in Europe and Russia, but continued to be unable to catch Asus in the domestic market.
With the release of new products and a concerted advertising strategy, Acer only lagged behind Asus by 1 percentage point in market share, 32 percent compared to Asus' 33 percent, in the third quarter, market research conducted by IDC showed.
However, Asus believes its product line-up and customer service would enable it to obtain a 30 percent growth in sales this year and enable it to keep hold of its market share, Liao said.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
RSS