Supply chain issues for Windows 8 notebooks

Asian tech site DigiTimes heard that the Windows 8 notebook supply chain will face great challenges in terms of capacity management and production smoothness. Dueto the economic downturn in the US and Europe, PC makers took a conservative attitude about the PC mark's future and have been delaying the shipment schedule of their Windows 8 notebooks, thereby tightening the upstream supply chain partners' available processing time.

The sources revealed that the first batch of Windows 8-based notebooks was shipped in late August via marine routes, but these were all models without touchscreen panels. Since touch is a major feature of Windows 8, Microsoft is being extremely careful about this and has required vendors to submit all touchscreen panels to it for certification, causing further stress on the supply chain.

Since touchscreen functions are one of the major highlights of Windows 8, Microsoft is being extremely careful about the feature and has demanded vendors submit all touchscreen panels to it for certification to ensure that quality and responsiveness meet its standards. The strategy has caused a further squeeze on the supply chain's available production time.

PC brand vendors are mostly confident that Windows 8-based notebooks will bring in a new wave of PC replacement, but due to the high cost generated by the adoption of touchscreen panels, most of them believe market demand is unlikely to increase until 2013.

The launch date of Windows 8 is October 26, 2012.