Report: Notebook shipments up in Feb., Q1 still down
updated 12:00 am EST, Tue February 21, 2012
HDD shipments said to be returning to normal
Notebook makers are reportedly experiencing an uptick in shipments for the month, increasing approximately 10 percent over January's numbers, unnamed industry sources have told DigiTimes. The positive growth is said to be partially due to the recovery in hard drive availability following supply restrictions that resulted from flooding in Thailand.
Although first-quarter shipments are typically expected to drop from the previous quarter, sluggish holiday sales are expected to narrow the gap between both quarters. Companies are allegedly expecting only a 10-15 percent decline from the fourth to the first quarter.
Quanta is claimed to have shipped 3.8 million notebooks in January, while expecting 11.8 to 12.5 million units for the quarter. The company is said to anticipating a significant surge in revenues after a new MacBook Air arrives on the market.
Other computer manufacturers, including Compal, Wistron and Inventec, are expecting similar double-digit sequential growth for the first quarter of the year.
