October 6, 03

Notebook computers will substitute around half of desktop computers by 2006, according to an estimate by officials of Intel's business operation in Taiwan under the ipression that sales of laptops supporting Intel's new Centrino technology have been rising since its introduction half a year ago.

Intel says that Centrino laptops accounted for 50% of all notebook PC shipments in the third quarter of this year and expects the number to increased to 70% by the end of 2003.

The desktop-to-notebook ratio worldwide is about three to one at present, according to International Data Corporation (IDC), which forecasts notebook PC shipments to increase to 56 million units from this year's estimate of 37 million.These numbers are in line with an anticipated output of 128 million desktop PCs by 2006, roughly twice the number of notebook PCs.

AsusTek, one of Taiwan's leaders in the notebook industry saiys that four of its notebook models support Centrino, accounting for over 50% of its total production.

According to Taiwan's Intel office, the Centrino technology has grossly increased the productivity of companies using it. The Gartner group suggests that employees using notebook computers work three more hours per week that users of desktop PCs, while users of Centrino work eight hours more per week than regular notebook users.

Intel has certified over 16,000 hotspots by now, more than 15,000 the company had expected, and believes the number of Intel-certified hotspots to be over 20,000 worldwide by the end of 2003.