TAIWAN - Notebook makers Quanta Computer, Compal, Wistron, Inventec and Pegatron Technology were all affected by fewer working days in February due to the Lunar New Year, and saw revenues in February drop 10% to 15% for the month.

Notebook makers also expect shipments in the second quarter to be impacted by a battery plant fire in Korea’s LG Chem's facility, and Quanta stated that Matsushita's battery plant, which also suffered damage in a fire in September 2007, will not resume full production until the end of June. While demand should start increasing in the next few months, the battery shortage problem may continue for some time.

Compal also pointed out that in addition to the shortage of batteries, chassis supply is also a problem.

GERMANY – The German Electronics manufacturing industry saw orders for electronic goods rise by near 12% for the fourth quarter 2007, which led to a 4.3% increase in revenues for the same period, according to the German Electric and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (ZVEI).

Manufacturers have stated that revenue growth might have been higher, but was impacted by the lesser number of working days in the fourth quarter (60 as opposed to 65).

The Book-to-bill ratio reached 1.10, indicating a coming increase in sales. The number of employees increased slightly by 0.4%.