TAIPEI – Taiwan’s top four notebook makers saw orders increase in August, thanks to Hewlett-Packard (HP), and the trend looks like it will continue through September, reports DigiTimes.

HP orders for the month were up 15% sequentially to an estimated 3.2 million to 3.3 million notebooks. Volume is forecast at 3.5 million units in September on the launch of Windows 7 and seasonal demand.

Inventec reported orders for over 1 million units from HP last month, says DigiTimes, with Quanta Computer and Compal Electronics shipping nearly 700,000 units. Orders were up by 30,000 units to 50,000 units sequentially for Wistron.

Acer is expected to claim the top spot in September, with shipments potentially surpassing 3.6 million units as demand for its ultra-thin notebooks and netbooks climbs in North America and Europe. Third-quarter shipments could reach 9 million notebooks, DigiTimes says.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – The forecast for North American PCB production is down for 2009, but shows growth resuming in 2010.
 
World production this year will decline 20% to $40.6 billion worldwide, says IPC. North American production is expected to end the current year at about 15% below 2008, but will start climbing in 2010.
 
North American PCB manufacturers managed to push sales growth in 2008 slightly above 2007 levels, despite declines in the market for PCBs and PCB production in North America, says the association.
 
According to an IPC report for 2008, the world market for PCBs reached an estimated $50.79 billion last year, up 1% from 2007. PCB production in North America, estimated at $4.11 billion, was down 6.5% from the previous year.
 
The North American market for flexible circuits declined almost 10% in 2008 to an estimated $441 million. This decline reflects the loss of some companies and the continued movement of end product manufacturing to other regions, according to IPC.
 
PCB manufacturers that remain active in North America, however, did better than the market in 2008. Rigid PCB manufacturers reported flat sales growth, and flexible circuit producers reported 17% sales growth in 2008, despite declines in both markets.