Notebook shipments are expected to continue growing in the third quarter, as demand from the stay-at-home economy remains in high gear amid the coronavirus pandemic and inventory at retail channels is still low, according to sources from notebook ODMs.
However, component shortages will remain a major problem likely to undermine the growth in the third quarter, the sources noted.
So far, order pull-ins from the retail channels are still strong and their inventory is still below the safe level. Meanwhile, many clients from the enterprise and education segments are unable to acquire sufficient notebooks and are queuing up for brand vendors' shipments at the moment, the sources said.
The sources pointed out that panel driver and power management ICs are likely to stay short throughout 2021 and more ICs such as I/O controller chips are beginning to see short supply in the second quarter. Supply of chips is about 20-30% short of demand in the second quarter.
Components such as chassis and compartment parts that are not in short supply have seen demand shrinking from brand vendors who are cutting orders to wait for ICs to catch up - a move to avoid inventory losses, the sources said.
