The Greater China notebook PC industry's shipment volume dropped 2.9% sequentially in the third quarter of 2012, arriving at approximately 42.5 million units. This is due to the fact that branded vendors took a conservative attitude towards placing orders for Windows 8 models before tests on the Windows 8 RTM (Release to Manufacturing) version were done by August. Regarding the netbook PC segment, as major branded vendors plan to withdraw from the market, the industry's shipment volume arrived at approximately 3.0 million units in the third quarter, continuing to break the lowest level of the year. Meanwhile, the ASP (Average Selling Price) of the Greater China notebook PC industry arrived at US$478 in the third quarter of 2012 and the overall shipment value reached around US$20.3 billion, down 0.5% sequentially. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of 2012, it is projected that the industry's shipment volume will only increase 4.5% sequentially due to the competition from low-priced tablets. It is anticipated that the benefits of Windows 8 on the industry's shipment performance will likely to emerge in the first half of 2013.