Notebook hinge maker Shin Zu Shing (SZS) has seen its metal injection molding (MIM) production line capacity fully-loaded for September and has used about 50% of the capacity for smartphone hinge products, according to the market watchers.

Since client demand for notebook hinges after the second half of September picked up significantly, SZS even outsourced some of its component production to outside OEMs to satisfy these clients, the market watchers noted.

Although SZS recently received smartphone hinge orders from High Tech Computer (HTC), since shipment volumes are still rather small compared to the company's other product lines, the combined share of the company's smartphone and smaller IT product hinges in its August revenues was about 7%.

Of the current global handset market, about 40% of the shipments are smartphone and only 10% of smartphone shipments adopt hinges. Since smartphones with a hinge are capable of acting like a notebook, the market watchers believe demand should increase along with market acceptance.

SZS is currently the largest notebook hinge maker worldwide, having about 45% of the global market share currently, although the percentage is lower than the 50-52% it enjoyed in 2009. The company explained that the dropping share is mainly due to its new strategy of only picking orders with profitability. The company is also hoping to lower the revenue contribution from notebook hinges to below 50% by 2012.