Technology news and Jobs arrow Information Technology News arrow Vista ballistically boosts Quanta’s Jan notebook sales to 2m
Vista ballistically boosts Quanta’s Jan notebook sales to 2m E-mail
by Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
Tuesday, 06 February 2007
News reports say Quanta sold more than 2 million notebooks in January, but a Digitimes report says they sold 2m in December, too. Either way, looks like Vista is giving notebook sales a big boost.

Having Vista pre-loaded onto your notebook computer at the time of purchase is supposed to guarantee one thing, aside from having Vista pre-loaded – it’s supposed to guarantee that all of the hardware inside each computer has drivers for Vista ready to go.

Having only tested Vista on computers pre-loaded with Windows XP and then upgraded with Vista, and suffering from driver non-availability for certain components, one can only hope that manufacturers aren’t selling computers with only part of the hardware actually working, and when we test a notebook pre-loaded with Vista, we’ll certainly be reporting on the experiences.

In any case, now that Vista is officially here, and has been available to system builders for some time, it should come as no surprise that Microsoft’s latest operating system has helped veteran Taiwanese notebook builder Quanta to post record sales.

While an Associated Press news report claims that January 2007 was the first time Quanta has ever achieved sales of more than 2 million notebook computers in a single month, a Digitimes report, titled ‘Quanta ships over 2 million notebooks in January’ also confusingly states that “Buoyed by the launch of Microsoft's Windows Vista OS (operating system), Quanta Computer shipped more than two million notebooks in January, up slightly over the two million units it shipped in December and up 53.8% from the 1.3 million units recorded a year earlier, according to company president Michael Wang”.

So, did Quanta actually ship more than 2 million notebooks in December 2006, too? If so, why all the hoopla about the January record, unless the December sales were exactly 2 million units, and January’s sales were at least one more. 

Unfortunately Quanta’s website makes no mention of this record, at least not in the English language news section, so exact details are unknown. But whether the record was broken in December, or January, the sales figures show the popularity of notebook computers over their desktop counterparts continues to accelerate, as people choose the mobility and robust power offered by today’s portable computers, with only the most advanced and expensive desktop computers truly offering more power to those who really want it.

The rise of the notebook has also reportedly caused problems for Dell, who are unable to manufacture notebooks in their factories but must have them created by a notebook manufacturer such as Quanta and/or its competitors. Dell uses its factories to assemble desktop computers, where Dell’s legendary cost savings can be made as computers are built to a just-in-time schedule.

But with notebooks created by a third party, some of these advantages disappear for Dell as they are no longer so directly involved in the manufacturing process.

Of course, this is the case for all of Dell’s competitors, with only companies such as Asus, who make notebook computers in their own factories, able to benefit from their own manufacturing prowess to deliver what should in theory be greater profits.

Either way, notebook sales are booming for Quanta and its competitors, both thanks to a greater desire for a powerful mobile platform, and the recent introduction of Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows Vista. Will your next computer be a notebook?
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