Although the falling worldwide economy has impacted Compal Electronics's notebook shipments, company president Ray Chen stated that Compal will not cut its work force, instead the company will even add more staff in the future. Chen then explained that the company currently has around 1,500 research and development technicians and the company expects to hire another 300 technicians in 2009.
The notebook market scale is expected to surpass that of the desktop PC market to account for 52% of the overall PC market in 2009, and the percentage could even reach 70% in 2010-2012, Chen stated, while adding that he believes the company needs to continue its research and developing ability as it is a critical requirement for future growth.
As for EMS providers competing for notebook orders, Chen pointed out these providers have not impacted Compal. Since there are almost no first-tier notebook vendors doing design themselves, EMS provides will need a strong research and development team to land orders and that is something that cannot be achieved in a short time, Chen pointed out.
Article translated by Joseph Tsai
