PC manufacturers, seeing the success of smartphones and tablets, have begun assuming that consumers must want to interact in the same way with their notebook screens. Microsoft even designed much of its Windows 8 user interface around the concept. Of course, the demand for touchscreen notebook PCs has been, to put it mildly, underwhelming. Some manufacturers would blame the failure of Windows 8 for slow PC sales, but almost none of them are giving up on touchscreen notebooks.
A new DigiTimes report states that notebook manufacturers are actually looking to increase their touchscreen notebook shipments next year. This is despite the fact that touchscreen notebook shipments this year are predicted to fall short of expectations. The report’s unnamed “sources from the upstream supply chain” are cited as saying manufacturers had expected touchscreen notebooks to make up as much as 40% of their total notebook shipments this year.
This has not been the case. DigiTimes singles out both Acer and Asus as examples of shipment shortfalls. According to the report, Acer’s touchscreen notebooks are predicted to make up just 10% of its total notebook shipments in 2013, while Asus’ proportion sits at an also-disappointing 20% of total shipments. These manufacturers are “hoping” to increase their total touchscreen notebook shipments by as much as 30% in 2014.
DigiTimes’ sources are predicting that touchscreen notebook shipments will more than double next year, hitting 40 million units. Though manufacturers are expected to focus on Surface-like hybrid tablet/notebook devices, the falling costs of touchscreens are expected to make the feature a standard for notebooks in the near future.
(Image courtesy ASUS)