Global tablet shipments are forecast to climb 45.5% sequentially and 9.9% on year in the second quarter of 2020 thanks to a recovery in the related supply chain's capacity in China and educational tablet orders deferred from the first quarter.

Global notebook shipments in the first quarter of 2020 dropped 27.6% on quarter and 10.9% on year. The yearly decline was the worst for the Taiwan's notebook industry since first-quarter 2016.

The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted production and weakened consumer confidence, with all ICT sectors bracing for major declines in shipments. Digitimes Research has conducted analyses on three mobile device sectors, namely notebooks, smartphones and tablets in the wake of the outbreak. The Special Report offers the latest updates about production statuses and shipments outlook for 2020 for each of the three sectors.

The tablet sector is witnessing better capacity recovery than the notebook and handset sectors.

Global tablet shipments amounted to 43.23 million units in fourth-quarter 2019 as white-box vendors had excess inventory, causing their shipments for the quarter to weaken, while brand vendors saw the momentum from the third quarter continue into fourth-quarter shipments.

Taiwan's notebook shipments slipped 4.4% sequentially, but grew 3.1% on year to arrive at 32.37 million units in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Taiwan makers shipped 14.21 million handsets in third-quarter 2019, up 3% sequentially but down 34.8% on year.

Global tablet shipments came to a total of 44.32 million units in the third quarter of 2019, up 35.7% sequentially and 1.5% on year.

Taiwan's notebook shipments rise 1.8% sequentially and 8.6% on year to come to 34.14 million in the third quarter of 2019.

2019 global tablet shipments will slide significantly from the level of 2018 as brand tablets are experiencing weakening momentum from tablet replacement and demand for education tablets, while white-box tablets also face decelerated demand for small-size models and fierce competitions from brand tablets.

Notebook shipments in 2019 are estimated to show a 1.6% increase with vendors ramping up inventory in preparation for the US-China trade war and business notebooks as well as Chromebook outperforming expectation.

Taiwan's handset shipments arrived at 13.8 million units in the second quarter of 2019, a level similar to that of the previous quarter, but slipping 33.2% on year.