Aaron Lee, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES

 

Notebook ODM Inventec had revenues of NT$27.378 billion (US$926 million) for January decreasing 6.53% on month and 0.90% on year, according to the company. Inventec shipped 1.45-1.5 million notebooks in January and aims to ship 17.6 million units in 2012.

Due to the global market's quick fluctuations and Europe's bond crisis, causing very low market visibility, Inventec estimates its notebook shipments in the first quarter may hold level on quarter with annual shipment growth having a chance to grow more than 10%. Market watchers also pointed out that Inventec will have rather stable performance in the first quarter, compared to the notebook ODM industry's estimated average 10-15% on-quarter drop.

On the other hand, rugged PC players are expected to enjoy stable performance in the first half of 2012 and since the rugged PC market usual sees a 10% on-year growth each year, sources from rugged PC makers believe the industry will achieve the same growth in 2012.

Currently, Japan-based Panasonic is the leader of the rugged PC industry with a market share of more than 60%, followed by General Dynamics Itronix and Getac, each have about 10% of market share.