Global PC Shipments To Fall 3%-4% On Qtr In 2nd Quarter - Salomon
TAIPEI (Dow Jones)Worldwide unit shipments of personal computers should post a sequential decline of 3% to 4% in the second quarter, weaker than the usual flat quarter-on-quarter growth notched historically, said Richard Gardner, a managing director at Salomon Smith Barney on Monday.
Gardner, who covers the PC hardware sector for Salomon and is based in the U.S., said global shipment growth in 2002 for PCs should be 6%-7% year-on-year with mostly all of the demand coming in the second half of the year due to gradual economic recovery in the U.S. and as corporates start to upgrade their PCs in the final two quarters of the year.
But Taiwan's PC shipment growth rate may be higher than the worldwide average due to continued outsourcing orders to Taiwan, especially from Japanese vendors, said Jason Lin, a Salomon vice president and Taiwan PC hardware analyst.
The Salomon analysts said motherboards and notebooks are sectors that may benefit from the outsourcing trend, citing for example that Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) has outsourced about two-thirds of its needs, which means there is still potential for a quarter's worth more of outsourcing from the U.S. computer giant and likely more in motherboards.
When asked about the China PC market, Gardner said the advantage still lies with local brand name vendors such as Legend Holdings Ltd. (H.LHD) and Founder Holdings Ltd. (H.FND), in part because knowledge of distribution channels and relationships with China's enterprise buyers corporates and government are key to business development.
Lin said that means it still remains tricky for Taiwan PC vendors to sell in China despite increasing production expansion there and shared language and culture that would seem to give them a leg up against rivals. Though Taiwan firms may see the mainland as their "backyard" market, the question is do Chinese consumers also regard the Taiwanese makers that closely, Lin said.
biz.yahoo.com |
