Despite the notebook market is expected to only see limited shipment growth in the fourth quarter of 2010, Lite-On IT expects its fourth-quarter revenues to maintain at NT$14.1 billion (US$463.78 million) as in the third quarter, mainly because of strong Xbox 360 sales due to its newly added Kinect accessory, according to the company.

Although slim optical drive shipments in 2010 will grow from 2009, production value is likely to remain flat or grow only slightly because after related component supplies returned to normal in early 2010, prices have been dropping since both Taiwan and Korea makers are offering lower quotes to attract notebook vendors to place orders.

Since Microsoft's Kinect has achieved 2.5 million units of sales in the first 25 days after launch, it has helped the sales of Xbox 360 as well as its optical drive supplier Lite-On IT.

The sales of Xbox 360 are also expected to help Lite-On IT achieve 50% on-year shipment growth for its gaming optical drive.

As for rumors that notebook makers plan to place early orders to avoid possible labor shortages in the near future, Lite-On pointed out that despite that some of its plants will have difficulty recruiting employees, the company is unlikely to experience shipment delays because since notebook shipments in the fourth quarter of 2010 are weak, while the company has already prepared some production lines at its plants in case of production line shortages.