Worldwide notebook shipments (not including 2-in-1 devices) increased 8.6% sequentially in the third quarter thanks to growing demand from the enterprise sector, vendors preparing for the year-end holidays, and increasing Chromebook shipments. The third-quarter shipments were down 4.1% on year.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) surpassed Lenovo and became the largest notebook vendor worldwide in the third quarter thanks to its strong product lineup for 2016, which allows the company to achieve better-than-expected sales in both consumer and enterprise sectors. HP's shipments grew a double-digit percentage on year in the third quarter, Digitimes Research's figures show.
Lenovo was busy digesting its inventory in early third quarter and did not start placing meaningful orders until September, which impacted its overall third-quarter notebook shipments.
Dell and Asustek Computer, ranked third and fourth, respectively in the third quarter, saw their shipments grow at rates weaker than expected. Dell was outperformed by competitors in the consumer market, while Asustek was impacted by Kaby Lake's delay.
Acer was the fifth largest in the third quarter, followed by Apple in number six. Apple saw a delay in new notebook product launches.
As for ODMs, Quanta Computer's shipments were down from a quarter ago in the third quarter as its orders from HP were weaker than expected and Apple also placed less orders with Quanta. Compal Electronics saw its shipments in the third quarter grow strongly from the second quarter thanks to increased orders from Lenovo and US-based clients for the year-end holidays.
Wistron also enjoyed growing shipments in the third quarter thanks to orders from its US-based clients and shipped over five million notebooks in the quarter. Pegatron's shipments grew the highest among the top-5 ODMs and surpassed two million units.
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