Feb 20, 2017
After experiencing a mild 5% shipment decline in 2016, the notebook industry is braced for a steady year in 2017 with shipments to stop falling, if not start growing. But it is not so, at least, for Simon Lin, chairman of Wistron.
Instead, Lin stated the notebook industry is facing a crisis, and, sooner or later, notebooks will be replaced by smartphones, tablets or other mobile handheld devices due to their ever-improving functionality.
Wistron shipped 19.4 million notebooks in 2016, making it the third-largest notebook ODM globally. Even so, Lin is pessimistic about the future of the notebook industry.
Lin argued that the notebook industry has made no major progress for a long period as the industry has been driven primarily by the developments of Intel and Microsoft.
As the notebook industry has stopped growing, notebooks will be replaced by other fast-growing mobile handheld devices and also broadly defined IoT devices.
The fact the PC market is shrinking is not a secret. The process will bring about further concentration of brands, and in turn suppliers, Lin said, adding that related suppliers such as Wistron should find a way out, shifting focus to smart devices such as smartphones and IoT devices.
Although the notebook industry has begun to rebound since the second half of 2016, the rebound is not driven by a pick-up in demand but rather low inventory levels at channels.
Lenovo, HP and Dell have managed to maintain their market shares over the past three years, while the market has been shrinking. In other words, the three major players have been grabbing share from other vendors, notably Asustek Computer and Acer.
In addition to brand vendors, ODMs also are facing challenges. Quanta Computer and Compal Electronics are being more aggressive on pricing in order to survive; Wistron, Inventec and Pegatron, however, have been forced to make a choice among clients due to limited sources.
Wistron chose to not participate in the RFQ (request for quotation) processes tendered by Acer and Asustek for 2017 notebook orders. Brand vendors and ODMs should reduce their reliance on notebooks, Lin concluded.
Source: Digitimes