Taiwan PC vendors see patchy March

Taiwan PC makers did not shift as much equipment as expected in March, preliminary research from Merrill Lynch suggests. Motherboard shipments look set to be 12% to 13% up on February, well under the 17% rise originally expected. However, notebooks should hit the 20% growth rate expected.

Overall, growth should be around 13%, compared to the original 13% to 14% forecast. For the first quarter as a whole, unit shipments will be down 7% to 8%, worse than the usual seasonal drop of 3% to 5%.

The news will not exactly cheer a PC industry that has been waiting for an upturn since 2000. However, Merrill Lynch adds that the market was not helped by high prices and shortages during the quarter.

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