Global notebook shipments to increase significantly in 2H13, says Compal chairman

While global notebook sales have so far been stagnant, shipments in the second half of 2013 are expected to see large growth from the first half mainly due to the launch of new models and promotions by Intel and Microsoft, chairman Ray Chen for Compal Electronics said at a May 9 investors conference.

Compal expects shipments of notebooks and tablets together to shrink by less than 10% on quarter in the second quarter, Chen indicated. Compal expects to ship 8-10 million tablets in 2013, with shipments to concentrate in the third and fourth quarters, Chen said.

Touch-screen models accounted for 4-5% of Compal's notebook shipments in the first quarter of 2013, and penetration is expected to rise to 9-10% in the second and further to 20% in the fourth, Chen said.

Compal's factories in Chongqing and Chengdu, western China, ship 600,000-700,000 notebooks a month each, while its factory in Kunshan, eastern China, ships 2.5 million units a month, Chen noted. While the Chengdu factory has space to house additional production lines, the Chongqing factory needs to be expanded to house the additional production capacity needed to meet increasing orders, Chen indicated.

Henghao Technology, Compal's subsidiary making large-size glass-based projected capacitive touch panels, hiked its overall yield rates from 60% in March to over 70% in April and attained break-even operations in April as well, Chen said. Currently, Henghao has 70% of its production capacity supplying touch panels to Compal and 30% to other notebook ODMs.

Compal's board of directors on May 9 decided to distribute a cash dividend per share of NT$1 for 2012, accounting for 68.03% of the corresponding net EPS of NT$1.47.

Source: Company, compiled by Digitimes, May 2013