Taiwanese Media: Notebook Market Shipments Expected to Weaken in Q1, Taiwanese OEMs Face Sluggish Growth

According to Taiwanese media reports, global notebook shipments exceeded expectations in the fourth quarter of 2025, primarily due to rising memory prices prompting brands to stock up early. However, this stockpiling raised the base figure, and coupled with reduced production capacity during the Lunar New Year holiday, cost pressures, and weaker demand during the traditional off-season, analysts predict a decline in global notebook shipments in the first quarter of 2026. Regarding notebook OEM performance, the top five Taiwanese notebook OEMs are expected to underperform the overall notebook market in the first quarter of 2026 due to weaker shipments from their US clients.