Weak demand for laptops and tablets in Europe

DigiTimes writes Taiwanese notebook and tablet vendors are seeing weak consumer demand for tablets and laptops in Europe. The site heard the supply chain is evaluating new strategies including further expansion into emerging markets as the weak European demand is leading to increased inventory and limits overall shipments to the area.

The sources told DigiTimes that combined with the weak exchange rate, the poor performance of European sales has shrunk profits by over 10 percent. Demand is particularly weak in northern and eastern Europe:

The makers noted some of the weakest demand has come from eastern and northen Europe, which has gained momentum throughout the first quarter of 2015 and is expected to remain unfavorable for supply chains into the second quarter.

In light of these trends, vendors are looking to further tackle markets in Central and South America in addition to Southeast Asia, and are increasing emphasis on mobile applications, namely larger-size smartphones. Motorola Mobility is one vendor implementing such strategies, and is increasing reliance on China-based supply chains to receive lower-priced solutions in order to provide competitive pricing to consumers.