Stronger market demand, triggered by steady brand-name vendor promotions, drove the shipment volume of the Greater Chinese notebook PC industry to a new high of 6.4 million units in the third quarter of 2003, increasing 37.6% year-on-year and 13.4% sequentially.
ASP (Average Selling Price) declined by only 0.9%, from US$666 in the second quarter to US$660 in the third quarter, cushioned by steady rollouts of 15" and above models and a rise in component prices. Shipment value increased to a historic peak of US$4.2 billion in the third quarter of 2003, compared to US$3.4 billion for the same period last year, year-on-year growth of 22.4%.
The greater Chinese notebook industry has gained a greater level of concentration due to contracts from leading international vendors, especially HP: shipment share held by the top three PC vendors already broke through the 70% mark, climbing to 70.7% in the third quarter of 2003, compared to 64.1% in the second quarter. Greater Chinese notebook PC industry growth in the third quarter was most comprised of shipments from the top three makers, leaving little room for the remaining players.
The peak holiday season is expected to push growth in market demand. Moreover, demand is anticipated to benefit by continued notebook PC replacements of desktop PCs, which will likely be comprised predominantly by larger sized desktop solutions notebook PCs. Given Greater Chinese notebook PC shipment makers' competitive advantages in such models, Greater Chinese shipment volume is expected to continue growing. Yet some key components such as LCD panels and batteries continued to suffer from a supply crunch, limiting growth prospects for Taiwanese manufacturers. The supply shortage has also lead to higher component prices, raising notebook PC cost and limiting the decline of notebook PC prices, which will likely inhibit sales.