Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Acer took deliveries of 3.3-3.4 million and 2.9-3 million notebooks, respectively, from Taiwan-based makers in November, with the volumes smaller than the originally expected four million and 3.6 million units, respectively, according to Taiwan-based component makers.

The lower-than-expected volumes mean that the vendors were clearing inventories, which were high partly due to competition from tablet PCs, the sources said.

In December, HP and Acer are expected to take deliveries of 3.7 million and 3-3.1 million notebooks, respectively, the sources indicated.