Notebook Shipments Drop Hit Dell, Lenovo Harder

Dell and Lenovo may be experiencing slowing notebook sales if recent supply chain checks are any indication.

A report from FBR Research, based on its checks of the Taiwanese PC supply chain, showed that notebook shipments to Dell and Lenovo were lower than expected while Hewlett-Packard and Acer saw higher-than-expected notebook shipments.

FBR Research says in its brief report that almost all notebook makers have reduced their fourth-quarter shipment expectations based on slower global demand.

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Global notebook unit shipments are now expected to be up 5 percent sequentially and 24 percent year over year. That compares with expectations released in October of 12 percent sequentially and 33 percent year over year, according to FBR Research.

Motherboard shipments were more significantly hurt. Shipments for the fourth quarter are now expected to be down 15 percent sequentially and 17 percent year over year. In October those expectations were only down 6 percent sequentially and 8 percent year over year.

"While these forecasts may not correlate perfectly to overall PC industry shipments because of ongoing share shifts among notebook suppliers and seasonal inventory fluctuations for motherboards, we believe the rapid deceleration in the Taiwan supply chain forecast makes it likely that PC shipments will soften significantly in Q4," FBR Research says in its report.