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The demand towards personal computers may fall considerably in the coming months and there are signs that leading suppliers of popular systems are preparing for such situation. Both Apple and Asustek Computer are rumoured to have cut their notebook outsourcing for the fourth quarter of 2008.
According to a report by Commercial Times news-paper (which article was partly translated by DigiTimes web-site), Apple and Asustek Computer recently had reduced their notebook outsourcing for the Q4 2008 by 20-30%. The news-story claims that Asus only expects to ship 1.7 million laptops in the fourth quarter and will be unable to meet its goal of shipping 6 million notebooks in 2008.
Both Apple and Asustek mostly sell rather expensive mobile computers, therefore, it is no surprise that the companies have to reduce the volume of their orders to production partners. On the other hand, since Asus has Eee PC lineup aimed at budget-minded customers, this may offset the impact of dropping demand for more advanced systems on the vendor.
The main manufacturing partners of Apple and Asus are Quanta Computer and Pegatron Technology, respectively. If the demand continues to be on the decline due to economic downturn, both Apple and Asus will continue to reduce their outsourcing volumes.
