PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Despite experiencing a shipment slump in the first half of 2015, notebook vendors are aiming to finish the year off with a strong recovery.
According to global research firm TrendForce, branded notebook vendors will be making a comeback with an all-out effort to expand shipments.
Demand remains strong in the US and starts to pick up in China, and the stabilisation of currency exchange rates means there will be a gradual turnaround in the European notebook market too.
Anita Wang, TrendForce notebook analyst, said that notebook brands will continue to expand their shipments in the fourth quarter. Besides introducing new models carrying Windows 10, vendors will also lower their prices to generate sales. This is done by further cutting the costs of an entire notebook set.
Wang expects that the total shipments in the fourth quarter may reach around the same level as those in the third quarter. Vendors and retailers will therefore have to dispose much of their inventories during this final quarter, or else accumulated inventories will drag notebook shipments in the first quarter of 2016.
According to analysis by the global research firm TrendForce, global notebook shipments grew above expectations by 11.1 per cent quarterly to 43.17 million units in the third quarter. However, this figure also represented a 5.7 per cent year-on-year drop.
HP retained its first-place title in the third quarter shipment ranking with a quarterly growth of 10.4 per cent.
Lenovo’s shipments recovered in the third quarter as the vendor got rid of excess inventories and benefited from seasonal demand. The vendor maintained its No. 2 position in the ranking with a quarterly growth of 11.1 per cent.
Dell’s shipments benefited from the surging consumer demand in China and North America, with the latter regional market also seeing a rise in demand for commercial notebooks. These market forces lifted Dell’s third-quarter shipments by 18.3 per cent, placing the vendor securely at No. 3.
The firm has also reported that the average contract price of DDR3 4GB modules fell by 10 per cent from US$18.5 in September to US$16.75 in October.
Both monthly and quarterly contract prices dropped as the outlook of the notebook market has become more conservative after the peak season. Fourth-quarter notebook shipments are expected to contract by one per cent quarterly, and this lack of end demand has resulted in excess DRAM inventory for PC-OEMs, says the analysis.
