Proving the denial is not just a river in Egypt, notebook manufacturers cling to the hope that the recent debut of Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors, and the upcoming release of Windows 8, will boost sagging laptop sales and help fight off the effects of Apple’s industry leading iPad.
Notebook original design manufacturers who spoke with DigiTimes said although Apple’s iPad continues to have strong sales, they believe its negative effect on global notebook sales is declining. They said that’s because most tablet-style devices “focus on entertainment rather than working and learning.”
Simon Lin, chairman of Wistron, said he believes the iPad has created a demand for a new market, and is not replacing traditional notebooks. He believes the reason for the lagging sales of notebooks is the global recession, and is hopeful sales will pick up with the launch of Ivy Bridge and Windows 8.
Sources have indicated that Acer, Asus and Samsung are “optimistic” about notebooks sales in the second half of 2012. Hewlett-Packard and Dell are said to be “neutral.”
