AMD strictly moderated (AMD)

[chipdesigner]

Oh Katie, you missed the recent news:

http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20060317A1001.html

Leading notebook vendors slash orders with Intel due to weak demand, say sources

David Tzeng, Taipei; Steve Shen, DigiTimes.com [Friday 17 March 2006]

Leading notebook vendors, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Acer and Asustek Computer, reportedly have slashed their orders for CPUs and chipsets already placed with Intel by 30-50% due to an unexpected rise in notebook inventory in the first quarter of this year, according to sources at Taiwan notebook makers.

Most vendors were caught off guard by rising inventory levels, as demand for notebooks in the first quarter was much weaker than expected, the sources noted, who added that most vendors had expected strong sales from the beginning of this year amid a continuous expansion in the desktop replacement market.

Vendors suspect that consumers are waiting for the launch of dual-core Napa-based notebooks, resulting in slow sales for the single-core Sonoma-based notebooks, the sources indicated. Although some Napa-based notebooks are available now, consumers also have shunned them due to their higher prices, the sources noted.

In addition, the planned year-end launch of Microsoft’s Vista OS is also a concern as consumers are worried that the notebooks they buy now might not be able to run with the 64-bit enabled Vista OS, the sources stated.

Helped by inventory control measures, including a reduction in CPU orders, vendors have seen their inventories start to improve in February and should be reduced substantially in March, the sources indicated.

Local notebook makers also urged Intel to implement in advance a planned May 28 price reduction of its Yonah CPUs so as to boost sales of Napa notebooks.

Intel Taiwan declined to comment on the report.