14 DAY TRIAL // While the IT market goes through all the shifts and turns caused, directly or indirectly, by the evolution of the tablet, it looks like not all companies are reaping the same benefits, if any.
With all the new mobile processors running around, and with new concepts like the thin but powerful Sony VAIO Z coming forth, one would think that notebook makers would have a field day.
Turns out, however, that not all those involved in the notebook segment can claim the same level of success and profits.
For ODMs based in Taiwan, like Compal and Quanta, this appears to be especially true, for a number of different reasons.
One thing to take into account is the fact that the earthquake that struck Japan back in March, though its IT consequences will go away in the third quarter, still had an impact.
Another issue that ODMs are dealing with is competition from tablet vendors, plus the fact that laptop brand vendors have been doing their best to clear whatever inventories they had, not order more.
As such, though an actual drop in shipments did not occur, the sequential growth was quite a bit less impressive than companies would have liked.
For those that want numbers, combined shipments for the top five notebook makers in Taiwan fell by 4% compared sequentially, both in Q1 and Q2. The third quarter is expected to see further growth, although still weak, of 7 or 8%.
Overall, compared to the same quarter of last year (Q2, 2010), Taiwan notebook makers actually saw their combined shipments drop by 4-5%.
In other words, tablets really have done a number on the mobile PC market, the same way that the flaw with Intel's Cougar Point chipset so strongly affected notebook sales during the first and second quarters. What remains is to see if things improve during the newly started Q3.