Although shortages of 802.11g chips impacted the shipment performance of some WLAN equipment makers, a 14% sequential increase in global notebook PC sales volume in the fourth quarter coupled with a dramatic increase the share built-in WLAN drove WLAN module shipments. Encountering heavy demand during Thanksgiving and Christmas, retailer price cuts on 802.11g offerings, and the rollout of "super g" devices, WLAN shipment volume continued to climb.

Taiwanese WLAN shipment value hit US$288.1 million in the fourth quarter, growing 30% from the third quarter. 802.11g promotions by retail channel players such as Linksys and Netgear and increasing adoption of 802.11g modules by notebook PC vendors such as HPQ and Dell drove up Taiwanese shipment share of 801.11g, which reached 47%. Moreover, increased demand for built-in WLAN in notebook PCs pushed along shipments higher-priced Mini-PCI interface modules. Share of such modules jumped from 28% in the third quarter to 40% in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 9% increase in WLAN NIC ASP (Average Selling Price).

Despite the weak retail sales season in the first quarter of 2004, WLAN demand remains strong, channel player inventories remain low, while receptivity for "super g" devices continues to unfold; procurement volume is thus expected to grow. Intel Centrino platforms adopting 802.11g modules are slated for mass production in the first quarter, which threatens to impact 802.11g module supply relationships, bringing about a short supply of 802.11g chips and ultimately influencing the shipment performance of WLAN equipment makers. Taiwanese WLAN shipment volume is expected to reach nearly 14.2 million units in the first quarter of 2004.