What They Say
Digitimes has published two reports suggesting that the demand for notebooks is weakening. First it reported that one top three notebook brand has asked chip suppliers to stop shipments and chassis suppliers told the site that shipment pull-ins from one brand had slowed. Display inventory has started to trend up after a period of real shortage.
However, most ODMs said that supplies are tight and there is still competition for materials.
The site then reported data from Digitimes Research that showed volumes down for the top five brands by 8%, and 9% for the top 3. However, HP’s Chromebook shipments rose in February and Lenovo was the only top brand to increase its shipements.
What We Think
If I remember correctly, a slow down in notebook demand is not surprising because of seasonal patterns. Sales were up on a year ago, but February 2020 was a very poor month for most production. (BR)
