Daiwa-Cathay: NB Shipments May Not Grow in 2011

Taipei, March 21, 2011 (CENS)--With several major Japanese brands as Sony and others who run factories near the quake-impacted zone in northeastern Japan shut down, shipments of notebook computers worldwide will not grow this year, says Daiwa-Cathay Capital Markets Co., Ltd., a market surveyor.

DRAMeXchange, another market surveyor, has cut annual growth of NB shipments by 1.9 percentage points in the wake of the apocalyptic quake and tsunami in Japan, believing the catastrophe will impact NB sales this year.

Differing in opinion, Taiwan's leading contract manufacturers of NBs, including Quanta Computer Inc. and Compal Electronics Inc., argue that the massive quake and tsunami will only modestly hit the industry in the short-term.

Taiwan's leading NB contract manufacturers say they hold enough inventory for shipments over two months, but are keeping an eye on upstream supplies for NB production needs over 1,000 parts.

Daiwa-Cathay says Taiwan's NB contract manufacturers still rely on Japan for some upstream key parts and materials, hence reducing the shipment goal for the NB industry in 2010, predicting a 17% month-to-month decline in first-quarter shipments and 10%-to-15% rebound in the second quarter.

According to DRAMeXchange projections, global NB shipments will grow only 11% year-on-year from the originally projected 12.9%, with PC shipments to grow 7.4% from the originally predicted 8.8% in 2011