June 26, 2001

Seemingly perennial news about the world economic slump notwithstanding, the notebook computer sector in Taiwan seems to be largely unaffected, according to local industrial sources.

Quanta Computer Inc., according to its own estimation Taiwan's largest notebook computer manufacturer, secured a large OEM order for 4.5 to 5 million notebook computers over 18 months from Dell of the U.S., local media reported.

The order consists entirely of 14" notebook PCs for business use. Beginning in January or February 2002,
Quanta will deliver an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 a month to Dell for 18 months in a row. For next year, Quanta's delivery volume will be about three million notebook PCs.

Apart from Dell, Quanta is also an OEM maker of notebook PCs for Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, and Apple, with delivery volumes of 400,000 to 500,000 sets for Compaq and that of 300,000 to 400,000 sets for each of the other three this year.

Compal Electronics, another main local OEM manufacturer of notebook PCs, expects to deliver 2.6 to 2.8 million notebook PCs this year, including 800,000 to 1000,000 sets for HP, and 600,000 to 800,000 sets for Dell and Toshiba each. Next year, the order volumes from Dell and HP will respectively exceed 1.5 million and 1.1 million nogtebook PCs, according to Compal's estimate.