Compal Electronics is likely to ship only three million notebooks in February 2011, the lowest monthly level since June 2009, while fellow maker Wistron may also see its lowest monthly shipments at 1.8-1.9 million units since 2009, according to Taiwan-based component makers.

This is partly because the defective design of Intel series 6 chipsets has caused delays in vendors' launches of some new notebook models, the sources pointed out.

As Intel has begun to deliver corrected chipsets, earlier originally expected, vendors may concentrate their launches of new models in March. If this happens, ODMs will receive short-term orders requiring urgent shipments and consequently their shipments in March will hike sequentially, the sources analyzed. However, the surge of short-term orders may subject ODMs to short supply of labor and components, the sources indicated.

In March, Compal's and Wistron's shipments are expected to rebound to more than four million and 2.3-2.4 million units respectively, the sources noted.