Mobo sales fade away in May

Thomas Wiesel Partners, the New York investment bank, is revising its PC shipments forecast downwards to just two per cent for the year, compared with previous estimates of five per cent.

TWP now reckons PC shipments will total 133m units in 2001, against its previous forecast of 136.5m units.

The cut follows "channel checks" with motherboard makers which revealed a drop in demand from top-tier OEMs and white-box builders in May, compared with April. The shipments fall between an "unsatisfactory" April and May is as much as 10-15 per cent, according to Taiwanese publication Digitimes. Both report that Mobo makers are also expecting a flat June.

Much of the fall could be seasonal, according to sources cited by TWP, which notes that the first half of the year traditionally accounts for only 45 per cent of annual PC sales in toto.

TWP retains its mildly bullish stance on the PC industry, which "shows resilience". It also notes that component inventories are "normalizing".

TWP continues to forecast a strong second half recovery for the PC industry, and it recommends its clients to begin building positions in PC-related semiconductor and semiconductor capital equipment-related stocks. ®