Notebook makers expect higher gross margins next year

Laptop upstream supply chain vendors expect their gross margins to increase in 2012.

These manufacturers believe that notebook brand makers will focus on ultrabook products in 2012. Compared to traditional laptops, Ultrabok has better profitability.

The gross profit margin of first-tier notebook makers was less than 4% in the third quarter of this year. Quanta was only 3.2%, Compal 3.31%, Wistron 3.9% and Inventec 3.8%. As the electronics manufacturing service (EMS) providers gradually withdraw from the notebook manufacturing industry, the price competition in the notebook computer market has stopped and the gross profit margin of the manufacturers will also recover next year.

Now, most laptop brands have already abandoned the netbook market. Now only Acer and Asustek are still competing for the netbook market. However, Acer and Asustek have withdrawn from the netbook market in Europe and the United States and moved to emerging markets such as China, India and Indonesia.

As for tablet PCs, Acer and Asustek and other vendors have already introduced quad-core tablets to support the latest Android system. However, during the battle between Apple and Amazon for the tablet market, these vendors were marginalized, so they returned to the notebook market.

Both Acer and Asustek are preparing to simplify their laptop product line in 2012. In the second quarter of 2012, hard disk supply eased and Intel launched the Ivy Bridge processor. After Microsoft released Windows 8, the laptop industry is expected to regain stable returns.

However, as the European bond crisis continues to ferment, the number of orders for PC brand manufacturers is still tending to be conservative, because they expect the end of the US and Europe holidays, the Chinese New Year holiday sales may not be as strong as expected.