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7 Jun 2002: | Mitac’s new Pocket PC 2002-based Mio 528 The popularity of PDAs (personal digital assistants) has grown significantly over the past few years with increasing convenience and improving functionality. When first on the market, PDAs served as PIM (personal information management) devices, using simple, proprietary software.
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| Backgrounder: Image sensors Image sensors function much like a human eye, absorbing and converting light from the environment around us into digital signals, assembling the images, processing, storing, and sending. There are currently four major types of image sensor: photomultiplier tubes (PMT) that are rarely used now and reserved almost exclusively for specialist applications, charge-coupled devices (CCD) that were responsible for the popularization of digital imaging and are now the mainstream sensor for higher quality imaging devices, contact image sensors (CIS) that were originally used in fax machines and have some limited applications in sheetfed scanners, and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensors that trade image quality for a higher degree of integration and lower cost that makes them suitable for mobile communications and lower-end products. CCD and CMOS sensors are now so dominant in the market that significant development in PMT and CIS devices is very unlikely. Both CCD and CMOS sensors are available as linear and array sensors, the linear sensors are used in scanners and fax machines while the array sensors are used in digital cameras of all types, both still and video.
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| AnandTech editor on Computex In a quick breakfast meeting on Wednesday, June 7, AnandTech editor in chief and CEO Anand Lal Shimpi and senior hardware editor Matthew Witheiler were obviously very happy to be at Computex and share their thoughts about the show.
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| VIA announces growing support for EPIA Mini-ITX board Since it was launched at CeBIT Hannover, the Mini-ITX format has been adopted by a growing number of chassis manufacturers, with Morex Information Ent., G-Alantic Enterprise, Yeong Yang Technology Group, Chenbro Group and Casetek leading the market.
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| Winbond showing TV-out-enabled DSPs Taiwan-based Winbond Electronics is showcasing two new DSC (digital still camera)-use DSPs (digital signal processors) at Computex Taipei. The products are three-mode designs, meaning they support TV-out as well as PC camera and computer-interface functions. This launch comes at a time when CMOS image sensors are expected to take over the low-end camera market for resolutions up to 1.3 million pixels. The new DSPs are designed for sensors in this range.
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| Quanta to continue sharing Acer notebook orders Acer has again decided to include Quanta Computer as a contract notebook manufacturer along with Wistron and Compal Electronics. Quanta reportedly will begin small shipments to Acer in the third quarter, but bulk shipments will not start until next year. By then, Acer’s 1.2 million to 1.5 million unit notebook orders per year will be shared by the three companies, and Acer will become the second global top 10 notebook vendor, after Dell Computer, to contract notebook production from Taiwan’s top three notebook manufacturers.
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6 Jun 2002: | Barebones help Shuttle and Jetway Following their first-tier counterparts, second-tier motherboard makers have tried to improve their business performance by diversifying their operations. Currently, Shuttle and Jetway Information are two companies that have reported better results. Orders for their non-motherboard products are expected to contribute considerably to their second-quarter revenues.
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| Z-Com’s wireless LAN card and AP take top prize Nikkei Byte and Nikkei WinPC selected Z-Com’s XV-5300/5800 wireless LAN card and access point (AP), which support IEEE 802.11a/b, for its overall “Best of Computex Taipei 2002” award out of over 200 nominated products. The judging was based on technical innovation and sales potential in the Japan market.
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| Full spectrum of companies push WLAN products At Computex Taipei, Taiwanese electronics companies are rolling out products to support WLAN (wireless local area network) technology for motherboards, memory modules and network equipment.
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| Varied growth prospects In 2001, Taiwan’s optical storage drive industry saw production fall for the first time, by 12.5% in volume and 8.6% in value, snapping years of rapid growth.
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| Weakening in 2Q With demand coming in weaker than expected, optical drive manufacturers are turning bearish on the outlook for their performance in the current quarter. They said sales are likely to fall from the previous quarter, in contrast to their earlier estimate of 5-10% growth.
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| June CD-R prices rise Taiwan’s optical disc manufacturers are rolling out long-anticipated price increases in CD-R discs. Per-unit contract prices of blank discs for June are up by roughly US$0.02 at top-tier manufacturers, while price increases at the small-to-medium disc makers average US$0.015.
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| Taiwan market to recover slightly The Market Intelligence Center (MIC) forecasts the Taiwan motherboard market will see only 2% shipment growth this year. However, compared to the 6% decline in 2001, the small growth would actually suggest a glimpse of recovering demand.
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| ECS: Notebook sales surpass mobos With increasing shipments of its DeskNote line and contributions from its acquired notebook business, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) generated more revenues from notebook products than from motherboards in the first quarter. Boosted by the growing orders, ECS’s second-quarter revenues may surpass the NT$16 billion of the first quarter, setting yet another record.
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| 2002 outlook conservative Despite seeing total industry shipments suffer a nearly 5% decline amid the economic slowdown, Taiwanese motherboard companies managed to turn in a rather good performance in 2001 with their product development capability, control of market channels and diversification strategies.
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| AOpen to ship 3.5m barebones Motherboard maker AOpen expects to see a more than 30% growth in its barebone systems shipments this year, with total sales rising from 2.7 million to three million units in 2001 to 3.5 million to 3.9 million units in 2002.
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| Japanese LCD niches Japanese LCD producers have been preparing for the much-intensified competition in the global flat panel display market. While gradually phasing out large-size a-Si (amorphous silicon) TFT LCD production and reorganizing or even spinning off their display groups, they have firmly positioned themselves in small-size, high performance LCDs, LCD TV panels and other specialty display types. These include color STN LCDs, MD-TFD (mobile digital thin-film diode), LTPS (low-temperature poly-silicon) TFT LCDs, OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes), HTPS (high-temperature poly-silicon) TFT LCDs for projectors, wide viewing-angle large-size TFT LCDs and PDPs (plasma display panels) for large digital TVs and public displays, etc.
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| China and Taiwan push new DVD disc format In a move to skirt licensing fees charged by DVD technology owners, 19 Taiwanese DVD manufacturers are in talks with counterparts in China to create a new disc format called EVD (enhanced versatile disc), with discs and players using the format scheduled to hit the market in the third quarter, according to a head researcher at Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).
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| Xbox DVD prices may fall 30% Taiwanese DVD player makers are eyeing outsourcing opportunities as Microsoft is planning the launch of second-generation Xbox game consoles this summer. The new game machine’s cut-rate price, however, is likely to drive down contract prices of its DVD player by as much as 30%, local manufacturers reported.
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| ASPs and margins will decline Although several high-end motherboard products, such as those supporting DDR333 or 533MHz FSB (front-side bus) standards, are set to hit the market this year, manufacturers said that declines in product ASPs (average selling prices) and gross margin will be inevitable.
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| Competition for 2nd-tier orders The attempt by Foxconn Electronics (the registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry) to launch an OEM service for second-tier motherboard makers marks not only the company’s intent to deepen its motherboard operations, but is also the second round of a battle with PC Chips, a major shareholder of Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) and a manufacturer which already makes motherboards for two second-tier companies. In 2000, Foxconn and PC Chips had a confrontation over the Alpha-Top deal.
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| New war in barebones After the OEM business, competition among motherboard makers is now expected to extend to the barebone systems market in 2002. Companies that started operations last year such as Asustek Computer, Gigabyte Technology, Micro-Star International (MSI) and Shuttle will all have more complete product lines.
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| MIC: 2Q shipments to drop 15% Taiwanese manufacturers will ship only 18.41 million motherboards in the second quarter, down 15% from 21.66 million units in the first quarter, the Market Intelligence Center (MIC) predicts.
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| Stepping into wireless Following graphics cards and barebone systems, wireless communications products have now entered the spotlight in the first-tier motherboard makers’ diversification stage.
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| Move to OEM inevitable The clone market once provided a great platform for Taiwan’s burgeoning motherboard production and helped the manufacturers to grow significantly over the years. However, now with a penetration rate of over 90% in the sector and competition of low-price brand PCs from international heavyweights, moving into the OEM market has become an alternative and also necessary move for Taiwan’s board makers in seeking further sales growth.
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| Lite-On IT partners for DVD pick-up heads Lite-On IT is planning to inject more capital into its optical drive distribution joint venture with JVC to finance pick-up head (PUH) production in China. The plant, to be located at Lite-On IT’s parent group production base in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, marks the company’s first push into optical components in a bid to complement its storage device business.
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| LSI first with Ultra320 PCI SCSI RAID LSI Logic announced on June 3 that it has begun shipping production samples of the market’s first PCI SCSI RAID storage adapters with Ultra320 support.
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| Top four take 50% Compared to their projections at the end of 2001, first-tier motherboard companies’ latest 2002 shipment forecasts appear more conservative, with the exception of Asustek Computer. Despite the adjustments, together Taiwan’s top four motherboard makers are expected to take up more than 50% of the global market this year, suggesting that their competitiveness still persists.
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5 Jun 2002: | Korea to lead in 5G LG.Philips LCD and Samsung Electronics have been actively working on the construction of their fifth-generation (5G) TFT LCD production lines, preparing for a strong recovery in the global TFT LCD market this year, especially in the second half.
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| Taiwan TFT LCD at full-capacity Making record shipments, except for Quanta Display, the other four Taiwanese TFT LCD producers have been operating at full capacity. Even considering yield rate improvements, further production increases in the second quarter will be limited.
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| China LCD industry developing rapidly Thirty Chinese LCD companies, with total investments of US$580 million and a total workforce of 18,800, produced 28 million units of mainly small-size TN, STN and TFT LCD panels in 2000, according to the China Liquid Crystal Display Industry Association.
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| Central China becoming new mobo base The central China region, especially the area including Shanghai and neighboring Kunshan, has become the trendy location for motherboard makers’ secondary production bases in China. This year, companies like Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), Micro-Star International (MSI) and Universal Scientific Industrial (USI) all plan to set up new factories in Kunshan or the nearby area.
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| Asustek sets up in Suzhou From the company’s origins as a motherboard manufacturer, Asustek Computer now counts CD-ROMs, power supplies, outer cases, notebooks computers and desktop PCs among its product lines. A vertically-integrated production chain is beginning to take shape. Asustek is striving to become the world’s top manufacturer of information products, and China will become its most important production base.
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| Moving LCM production to China Since the Taiwan government decided in mid-December of last year to permit Taiwanese companies to build TFT LCD back-end module (LCM) factories in China, Taiwanese TFT LCD producers have quickened their moves to China.
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| Taiwan aiming for 5G in 2003 The life cycle of newer generation of TFT LCD production lines tends to shorten, and fifth-generation (5G) TFT LCD production lines are predicted to account for 40% of global TFT LCD production by 2004, exceeding the 31% share held by fourth-generation (4G) lines, predicted Steven Liu of the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK).
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| LCD TVs making a splash Benq, Sampo Technology, Jean, CTX, Gvision, MAG Technology and NFREN are all showcasing one or two LCD TV models, mainly in 15 or 17-inch sizes, at Computex Taipei.
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| AU Optronics develops OLED using a-Si TFT LCD AU Optronics (AUO) said it has extended its leadership position with the development of the world’s first full-color OLED (organic light-emitting diode) prototype that combines a-Si (amorphous silicon) TFT LCD technology.
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| USI chooses Shanghai area To land more notebook motherboard orders, Universal Scientific Industrial (USI) recently decided to set up a new factory in or near Shanghai. Plant construction is expected to start by year-end and volume production in the second half of 2003. However, final decisions about the size of the investment and plant site have not been made.
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| ECS to make notebooks in Kunshan To better meet the requirements of notebook clients, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has decided to set up a new notebook production base in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province (near Shanghai). With the project, ECS will for the first time move its China production site north away from southern China.
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| Move to China will continue To cut production costs, Taiwan’s motherboard makers have been shifting production to China over the past three years. The Market Intelligence Center (MIC) estimated that around 53% of Taiwan’s motherboards were manufactured in China during 2001, compared to 43% in 1999 and 46% in 2000. Analysts indicate that this trend is expected to continue in 2002.
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| MSI looking to China distributors Micro-Star International’s (MSI) motherboard shipments to China increased 35% year-on-year in 2001. However, the company predicts growth of only 25% this year, as its major OEM client Legend will increasingly rely on supply from its subsidiary Legend QDI and deepen cooperation with the joint venture it established with Gigabyte Technology.
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| Acorp boosting China production Taiwan-based motherboard maker Acorp Electronics expects its China production ratio to rise to 80% this year, according to company chairman Wellen Tseng. Its Shenzhen, Guangdong Province affiliate Hua Shun Technology began operations on January 19 with one SMT line. Two more lines are scheduled to be installed shortly after Chinese New Year.
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| Gigabyte: China shipments rising Motherboard maker Gigabyte Technology estimates that its China operations will contribute more than 40% of its shipments this year, up from 30% in 2001.
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| ECS adds own factories Although more than 95% of its production takes place at its China base, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) is to officially terminate its “no factory” epoch in the second quarter with the completion of wholly-owned plants in Guangdong Province, China operating under subsidiaries Ching Mao Technology in Shenzhen and Ching Yun Computer in Dongguan.
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| Chunghwa Picture Tubes to begin PDP production Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) will soon complete trial production at its PDP (plasma display panel) production line of 7,000-substrate monthly processing capacity and expects to begin volume production at the line in August or September. The company plans to produce 46-inch panels initially and 50-inch products later.
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| Larger-size products coming Attracted by much better profit margins, South Korean and Taiwanese TFT LCD producers have launched many larger-size TFT LCDs and substantially increased their shipments since the fourth quarter of last year. However, the panel producers’ enthusiasm has not really been fully matched by system producers and market response and 15-inch LCD monitors still account for account for the bulk of LCD monitor market.
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| Rumored early K8 may not help sales New 8th-generation (K8) processors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) may hit the market at the end of August, instead of the scheduled October, industry sources said. Following the schedule, K8 motherboards would be available after mid-August. However, AMD has not confirmed the information.
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| Micro-Star MS-845E Max2-BLR The MS-845E has several things in common with the Gigabyte GA-8IEXP – it supports a 400MHz/533MHz FSB, provides 4x AGP, three 184-pin DDR266 DIMM slots, an ATA100 interface and ATA133 RAID provided by the Promise PDC20276, six PCI slots, up to six USB 2.0 ports, an RJ-45 LAN connection via the Intel 82562ET networking PHY chip and a CNR slot. The 6-channel audio is provided by Realtek’s ALC650 and connectivity is enhanced by an IrDA connector and the Bluetooth module. There is a basic model (no “BLR” in the name) available that drops the RJ-45 LAN connector, the Promise ATA133 support and the Bluetooth module.
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| Tyan Thunder I7500 (S2720) It has been a long time between releases for Intel’s server-level system chipsets. The 860, supporting the dual-channel Rambus architecture, was released back in September 2000 and there’s been nothing since. That changed in February with the release of the E7500 (codenamed Plumas). The E7500 chipset consists of a 1,005-pin FC-BGA package MCH chip with the 421-pin BGA package 82801 CA (ICH3-S) south bridge and the 567-pin FC-BGA package RG82870P2 64-bit PCI/PCI-X controller chip (P64H2).
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| Gigabyte GA-8IEXP On the specifications, the Gigabyte GA-8IEX and GA-8IEXP motherboards support a 400/533MHz FSB and provide an AGP 4x slot, three 184-pin DDR266 DIMM slots, an ATA100 interface, six PCI slots and up to six USB 2.0 ports. In the upper-left corner there is a Creative CT-5880 audio chip to provide high quality 5.1 surround sound with S/PDIF fiber optics digital output. The Intel 82562ET networking PHY chip with integrated MAC function in the south bridge provides 10/100Mbps Ethernet connectivity. In addition, Gigabyte’s Dual BIOS technology helps prevent permanent damage due to virus attack or inadvertent downloading of incorrect firmware. The Dual BIOS provides a permanent BIOS backup and is one of the best selling points of Gigabyte motherboard.
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| Motherboard window shopping As in past years, Computex 2002 is the place to go to look for motherboards. With 96 products listed on the Computex website and 38 companies claiming to manufacture them, there’s more than enough to go around. With so many CPU configurations, chipsets and other functionality to choose from, the 96 is a conservative number; most of the major brands have upwards of 15 boards available. These major brands attract customers with one or two flagship boards supported by a full fleet of others; the smaller brands tend to go for niche products or non-mainstream technologies. The DigiTimes PATLab team have reviewed a large number of the newer boards over the last few weeks and we decided to pick out three for a special review: Gigabyte’s GA-8IEXP, the MS-845E Max2 from Micro-Star International (MSI) and Tyan’s S2720. The first two of these are ATX form factor, 533MHz front side bus (FSB) boards using Intel’s 845E Pentium 4 chipset. Gigabyte’s offering should be a battleship board while MSI’s is more of a submarine – offering wireless connectivity via a Bluetooth module. The Tyan offering takes its place like an aircraft carrier targeting the server market, with dual-Xeon processors and the new Intel E7500 chipset.
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4 Jun 2002: | CP keeping pace with ATI With its deepening cooperation with graphics chip designer ATI Technologies, graphics card maker CP Technology will match the pace of the Canadian company in launching new products. CP Technology’s revenue from the OEM sector is expected to rise to 20% of its total revenues after it receives some of ATI’s own OEM orders. In the own-brand segment, the card maker will focus more on medium and high-end products this year.
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| Notebook chips attracting designers The notebook-use graphics chip market has now become a new haven of profits for many chip designers, as the price war in the desktop sector continues to escalate with more competitors entering the market and sales competition from Intel’s integrated chipsets.
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| CETRA names Taiwan’s best The Taiwan-based China External Trade Development Council (CETRA), one of the sponsors of the Computex Taipei 2002 trade show, announced awards for best IT export products on the first day of the exhibition.
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| Nvidia, ATI hold differing attraction Due to the competition in the desktop sector, graphics chip designer ATI Technologies introduced an open platform strategy in June 2001 – offering its full range of graphics technologies to add-in board (AIB) makers and original design manufacturers (ODMs), thus providing systems integrators (SIs), retailers and distributors a wider choice of suppliers. Under this new strategy, graphics card manufacturers have gradually divided themselves between the leading Nvidia camp and the nimble ATI group, based on the differing terms the two leading companies offer.
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| Leadtek looks for 5% market share Taiwanese graphics card manufacturer Leadtek predicts that although the global graphics card market is expected to grow to only 75 million units in 2002 from 70 million last year, its own shipments will jump to 3.6 million units from 2.1 million units.
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| Prolink expects 20% boost Taiwanese graphics card manufacturer Prolink Microsystems is expected to continue enjoying strong revenues in 2002, with promising orders from new OEM clients and rising sales of its multimedia, networking equipment and opto-electronics product lines.
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| Late roll-outs of integrated chipsets With the mainstream product transition from the Pentium III to the Pentium 4 platform, graphics card manufacturers started enjoying strong sales and shipment performance in the fourth quarter of 2001. Stimulated by the rise in demand, companies like Leadtek and Prolink Microsystems were able to achieve their 2001 targets as early as November.
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| South Korea: Record 1Q South Korean monitor producers made record LCD monitor shipments in the first quarter while their CRT monitor shipments decreased moderately compared to the same period of last year. The Korean companies predict they will significantly boost LCD monitor shipments this year while maintaining a small increase in CRT monitor shipments.
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| ITIS: 31 million units in 2002 The global LCD monitor market is predicted to reach 31 million units this year, according to Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Information Service (ITIS). The figure is much more optimistic than the 25-26 million units projected by many research institutes at the end of last year and the 28 million projected by DisplaySearch in the first quarter.
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| Philips: Three million units Philips aims to ship three million LCD monitors from its four major production bases in Hungary, Mexico, Taiwan and China (Suzhou, Jiangsu Province) this year, according to Philips Taiwan.
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| ViewSonic debuts 36-inch LCOS TV At a Computex press conference on June 3, ViewSonic director for business development advanced technologies Gene Ornstead unveiled the world’s first 36-inch LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) rear-projection TV.
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| ‘Sports year’ boom Following Sharp’s plan to ship one million LCD TVs this year, up from 500,000 units last year, major Japanese OEMs, including Sony, JVC, Pioneer and Aiwa, have also jumped on the bandwagon, aiming to get a good shot at this promising market.
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| ViewSonic president interview Characterized by intense competition, 2002 will be a crucial year for LCD monitor producers to establish themselves. We interviewed James Chu, ViewSonic president and CEO, to find out more about the company’s LCD monitor market strategy.
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| Stiff competition in Taiwan Competition among Taiwanese LCD monitor producers has become much more intense this year. It is generally predicted that larger LCD monitor producers will grab even bigger shares of the market and for many 2002 will be a year of survival.
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| Nexcom HiServer blade server Just like the blade used in a magic show to cut people in half, Nexcom’s subsystem boards slide into the HiServer blade server and take their place in a configuration that can offer supercomputing power.
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| ALi optimistic about multimedia Boosted by strong growth in its multimedia chips, ALi Corporation (formerly Acer Laboratories) saw further improved financial performance in the first quarter of 2002. With more new products to be launched later this year, ALi predicts that its 2002 revenues should reach NT$7.72 billion.
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| SiS330 series targeting clones To reduce the sales impact from the release of Intel’s 845G and 845GL integrated chipsets, Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) has extended its graphics operations further into the clone market with its latest SiS330 series (Xabre).
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| Gigabyte fully embraces ATI In January 2002, Gigabyte Technology became the first top-tier maker to join the ATI camp by shifting all of its graphics card production to products based on chips from ATI Technologies.
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| DRAM and 845B0 help sales Due to falling DRAM prices and recent clearing of discrete 845B0 (845D)-based board inventory, sales of graphics cards in the first half of May turned out better than manufacturers had predicted. Nevertheless, companies remain wary of the expected impact of integrated 845G-based motherboards.
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| ATI expecting 20% revenue growth Given the initial success of the company’s multi-directional strategies into the PC, STB (set-top box), PDA (personal digital assistant) and communications sectors, Ho Kwok-yuen, chairman and CEO of ATI Technologies, estimated that the Canada-based company will be able to enjoy 20% growth in revenues this year.
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| New entrants heat up the sector Competition in the graphics card market looks like it will become as stiff as the motherboard industry this year, with veteran manufacturers planning to enhance their overall shipments while plenty of newcomers are entering the sector.
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| Nvidia, ATI battle in core logic Following the confrontation in the graphics chip market, Nvidia and ATI Technologies heightened their competition further in the core logic chipset sector this year.
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| Crossing over from/to DRAM As DRAM supply is playing an even more crucial role in the graphics card business lately, the trend of operation crossover is emerging. Graphics card maker Leadtek has decided to set up a DRAM module design and manufacturing subsidiary to ensure sufficient supply, while DRAM module manufacturer Transcend Information plans to use its current advantage to start a graphics card operation.
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3 Jun 2002: | ECS to feature LCD PCs and latest DeskNote at Computex Taiwan-based Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) is unveiling its latest product aimed at the PC system market – a desktop computer built into an LCD screen – at the Computex Taipei exhibition this week.
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| Desktop PCs that look like notebooks – the new ECS DeskNote range Everyone knows that 2001 was a tough year for the PC industry. Overall PC shipments declined across every category except notebooks. With continued growth expected to extend well into the future, notebooks managed to shrug off the gloom pervading the rest of the industry. According to data presented at this year’s spring Intel Development Forum (IDF), notebooks are expected to maintain a 16% CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) from 1999 to 2005. Style, portability, a small footprint and wireless connectivity have all helped notebooks stay ahead of their cumbersome, desk-bound uncles.
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| Success via great performance With the DDR266 standard now taking the mainstream, popularity of DDR333 is expected to pick up during the third quarter. At present, several DRAM manufacturers have even launched DDR400 modules, hoping to attract power users thirsting after higher specifications.
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| DeskNote aims to hit one million shipments in 2002 The DeskNote hybrid desktop/notebook from Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has sparked widespread consumer interest and market buzz since its launch. It remains a question, though, whether it can create a new niche in the increasingly crowded PC market. Many are also curious about the timing of ECS, an entrenched player in the motherboard business, in making a foray into PC systems. What’s behind its strategy, exactly?
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| Taiwan notebook company 1Q financial results and full-year targets Please see our financial data and charts section for more complete info.
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2 Jun 2002: | Notebook makers stepping up complete-unit assembly in China After years of sometimes sneaky operations on the mainland, Taiwan’s notebook makers finally got the go-ahead from the Taiwan government to formalize their plant investments in China this year.
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1 Jun 2002: | Computex Taipei draws more participants despite economic downturn The twenty-second Computex Taipei trade show kicks off today at the Taipei World Trade Center, with various exhibitions set to be held for five days through June 7. Although growth in the number of participating companies was smaller than in past years due to the economic downturn, the overall count of participating enterprises and booths set up increased from a respective 1,070 and 2,183 in 2001 to 1,108 and 2,306 this year.
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| Compal rumored to land large Dell contract Compal Electronics is rumored to have received a big order from Dell Computer for a 15-inch notebook computer lineup next year, suggesting a good chance for Taiwan’s second-biggest PC maker to close in on archrival Quanta Computer, sources familiar with the order said.
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| Vendor outsourcing to Taiwan strengthening The trend among international electronics companies to outsource has always underpinned the prosperity of Taiwan’s tech economy, and nowhere is the trend more apparent than the notebook computer sector.
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| Business picking up for Arima Computer With business steadily picking up at Arima Computer, the market is speculating that the notebook maker’s 2002 shipments could come in at 1.8 million to two million units, ahead of the company’s earlier estimate.
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| Acer, Quanta join forces to launch portable desktop PCs Acer and Quanta, seeking to tap the growth segment between desktop and notebook computers, have joined forces to plan a new line of notebook-like PCs powered by desktop chips. The products will be launched in China and Europe, Acer’s traditionally strong sales base, during the second half of the year, people familiar with the matter said.
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| Taiwan’s notebook sector expecting high-growth 2002 In 2001, even a faltering US economy and the slump in IT spending could not stop Taiwan’s notebook computer sector. Though most of Taiwan’s 12 notebook makers saw slipping revenues – except market leader Quanta Computer, which delivered a 40% gain – they on the whole turned in better profits compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, their combined shipments, at 15.5 million units, marked an 18% increase while industry-wide shipments rose only 8%. Taiwan’s global market share, consequently, was boosted to 58% from 53% the previous year.
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| Acer’s PC sales in China may reach NT$8 billion Acer, gearing up to expand in China’s PC market, has set a revenue target of up to NT$8 billion and expects its PC shipments to grow by 36.8% in China in 2002, a company executive told DigiTimes.
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| May shipments flat as clients waited for Intel price cuts Shipments of notebook computers in May are taking a hit from international PC vendors, who are deferring orders in anticipation of price cuts on Intel’s mobile processors on May 26.
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