Flee Eee PC?
FT.com has reported that supplies are expected to fall short of demand from battery pack makers, and from laptop assemblers and vendors, following the devastating LG Chem fire on 3-4th March.
The shortage will last into Q3, predicts Chris Wei of Taipei’s Market Intelligence Center think-tank. ‘To cope with the shortage,’ Wei said, ‘computer companies are going to assign the capacity they can get to higher priced products, in order to minimise the effect on their revenue and margins.’
The shortage is thought to have cut Asus’ Q1 shipment target of one million ultra low-cost Eee PCs by a third, and bodes ill for the mid-year launch of its 8.9-inch second-generation notebook.
Adding to Asus' dilemma, HP, which accounts for 50 percent of LG Chem shipments, and Acer have also announced mid-year launches of low-end products. The launches will not be delayed, apparently, but it's not unreasonable to expect them to scale down delivery schedules.
