Global NB PC Shipment Rebounds 4.1% QoQ in Q4, 2013

The global notebook PC industry may have stabilized from a persistent downturn seen in the past quarters, as global shipments rebounded 4.1% in Q4, 2013 compared to a quarter ago, or a milder-than-expected drop of only 5.9%, according to the latest report by Digitimes Research, a Taiwan-based information technology research firm.

Digitimes explained that the rebound was due partly to Intel's launching budget-priced solutions, and partly to simmering demand in both the consumer and enterprise segment of the market, which, in turn, also generally benefited Taiwanese notebook PC ODMs (original design manufacturers) in the form of growing revenue in December.

In the quarter, Digitimes's report shows that Lenovo and HP were the top two brands by global shipment, while Dell outpaced Acer as the world's third-largest brand mostly thanks to its stably growing sales in the enterprise segment. Meanwhile, Asus, Apple and Toshiba came fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

Noteworthy is that among the world's top-10 brands, both Taiwanese brands, Acer and Asus, and Japan's Toshiba all suffered severe drops of over 20% in annual shipment, according to Digitimes.

As to outlook in the first quarter of this year, Digitmes forecasts global laptop shipment to dip about 10% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) largely due to seasonal factors, or around 2% year-on-year (YoY), significantly improving from a YoY decline of 14% seen in the first quarter of last year, indicating the research firm's optimism that the global notebook PC industry is gradually back on track.

As for contract manufacture, Digitimes pointed out that Compal Electronics Inc. and Pegatron Corp. led the sector by shipment in the fourth quarter of 2-13. For the whole year, Compal, Inventec Corp., Elitegroup Computer Systems Co., Ltd. and Shuttle Inc. enjoyed shipment growths, while Quanta Computer Inc., Wistron Corp. and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., however, saw shipments plummet by 10 million units, 7 million units and nearly 5 million units, respectively. (SC)