Notebook shipments reached approximately 14 million units in May 2014, up 6.4% on month and up 9% on year. Distributors' strong stock up demands for new models including low-priced US$249 Microsoft notebooks acted as a major growth momentum, according to WitsView.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) saw a strong 50% shipment growth in May as the company performed well in the tenders market, the reseach firm said. Meanwhile, Toshiba's monthly shipment growth set a new record of 18% breaking the one million mark. Dell and Apple, however, saw their notebook shipments drop 17% and 33% in the same month respectively, mainly because of higher shipment bases in April 2014.
WitsView further pointed out that notebook shipments from January-May 2014 were up 5% on year at 64.5 million units as economies across the globe improved and consumers became more aware of the distinction between notebook and tablet capabilities.
June 2014 notebook shipments are expected to grow 9-11% spurred by summer sales stock up demand, as well as tightened panel supply in May that have caused delays throughout the entire production line. WitsView added that the overall notebook shipment decline in 2014 will narrow down to 0.7% on year to 168 million units.
Source: Digitimes
