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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (45895)	4/25/2001 9:57:40 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Korea's Production of Notebook PCs to Reach 1 Million Units in 2001 April 25, 2001 (TOKYO) -- Korea's production of notebook PCs in 2001 is expected to increase 7.4 percent over the previous year to about 1 million units, a survey by Nikkei Market Access said. Until 1999, Korean makers' brand PCs accounted for a majority of their production. But from 2000, the manufacturers increased production of PCs for U.S. makers through original equipment manufacturer agreements. In OEM contracts, one company manufactures products for sale under another company's brand name. Korea's OEM production of PCs has expanded into about 10 percent of that of Taiwan, a front-runner in using the OEM system to produce PCs for foreign makers. Since each of Korea's two top makers' OEM production is about the same volume as that of Taiwan's Asustek Computer Inc., ranked seventh in terms of production volume, they have the potential to become rivals of major Taiwanese makers in the future. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and LG Electronics Inc. dominate Korea's notebook PC production. Until around 1999, Hyundai Electronic Industries Co., Ltd., Daewoo Telecom Co., Nae Wae Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (now Hexxim Teletek Inc.) also produced notebook PCs, but they dropped out of the race because the small quantity of notebook PCs could not cover costs. Samsung, one of the current two top makers producing notebook PCs on an OEM basis, is producing such PCs for Gateway Inc. of the United States, in addition to manufacturing its own brand PC products. Its first-quarter notebook PC production in 2001 recorded about 150,000 units, and is expected to produce a total of 500,000 units in 2001. LG is producing notebook PCs through OEM agreements for IBM Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. of the United States. It used to manufacture PCs for Gateway, but is not doing so anymore after Gateway tied up with Samsung. Its first-quarter notebook PC production came to about 120,000 units. It plans to produce a total of 700,000 units in 2001, but taking into current circumstances into consideration, it's highly likely that LG's overall production will be about 500,000 units. Trigem Computer Inc. has also begun producing notebook PCs, but it remains to be seen whether it can continue to do so because its production quantity is still small. LG began producing notebook PCs on an OEM basis for IBM and Compaq in the beginning of 2001, eating into front-running Taiwanese makers' share of OEM-manufactured PCs in the U.S. market. Beginning in 2001, production of Acer Inc., a Taiwanese maker, for IBM started to decline significantly. Arima Computer Corp., one of two Taiwanese makers producing notebook PCs for Compaq, has also seen a drop in its production. In 2000 when the PC market still remained bullish, Korean makers' commencement of OEM production had little impact on Taiwanese manufacturers, but after the bust of the information technology boom, whether they produce marketable models or not have created a huge difference in the quantity they manufacture. Arima's production is still far greater than LG's, but competition to ensure manufacturers' survival will intensify in the future. Related stories: IT Channel] Part I: Overview of Korean IT Market Outlook for Taiwan's PC Industry: Current Status and Future Prospects Taiwan's TFT-LCD Panels Slumping for Notebooks, Up for Monitors (Tamao Kikuchi, Nikkei Market Access)