Notebook makers saw smaller than expected sales drop in Q1 2012

DigiTimes reports notebook sales in the first quarter of the year did better than anticipated. The site says notebook makers Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Wistron, Inventec and Pegatron Technology are all expected to see a shipment drop of less than 10 percent, versus their original forecast of 10-15 percent, and will even enjoy growth of 5-10 percent in Q2 2012.

Although Acer still maintains its shipment forecast of seeing a sequential drop of 10-15% in the first quarter, the sources believe Acer's shipments in the first quarter will surpass six million units and may even hit 6.2 million units, up from 5.9-6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011. In the second quarter, the company's shipments are expected to grow 5-10% sequentially.

Meanwhile, Asustek is expected to see its consolidated revenues to drop less than 10% in the first quarter of 2012 to NT$90-95 billion (US$3.04-3.21 billion), down from its original forecast of 20% sequential drop, and its revenues are even expected to reach NT$98 billion in the second quarter.