Taiwan-based second-tier notebook makers have recently started seeing some orders from their previous clients return as several China-based white-box notebook makers, which cannot bear the low profit from the notebook business, turned to manufacture tablet PCs. Taiwan-based second-tier notebook makers including Clevo and Elitegroup Computer System (ECS) have all benefited, according to sources from notebook makers.

China-based white-box notebook makers have been competing against Taiwan-based second-tier notebook makers for orders in China as well as some other emerging markets, but as the notebook ASP is dropping, plus clients are demanding heavily over the quality and the after-sales maintenance of the notebooks, several white-box makers have turned to manufacture tablet PC, which has better profitability.

Clevo is expected to ship over 500,000 notebooks in the fourth quarter, the highest level in history. In addition to procurement orders from Nigeria, the orders from China-based notebook brands also helped. Clevo expects its monthly notebook shipments in the first quarter of 2011 to remain at 160,000-180,000 units with the quarterly volume reach 500,000 units, flat or drop slightly on quarter and the volume will also be the best first-quarter result for the company in history.

Clevo originally expected to have chance challenge two million units for 2010, but facing competitors compete with price, the company's annual shipments may fall at 1.5 million units. As for 2011, Clevo internally is not pessimistic and the company has recently started seeing clients shift back their orders.

ECS shipped about 760,000 notebooks in the third quarter of 2010, up 25% sequentially, with shipments in the fourth quarter to maintain at around the same level as the third, according to IDC's figures. However, as several China-based clients started to shift back their orders to ECS in November and December, plus vendors are preparing inventory for the Lunar New Year holidays in China, ECS' notebook shipments in the first quarter of 2011 are expected to maintain at 700,000-800,000 units.