Notebook ODMs expect component shortages to worsen in the third quarter, as competition to secure sufficient supply from other industry sectors such as automotive electronics, consumer electronics and servers will become fiercer.

Of the global top-4 notebook ODMs, only Wistron managed to achieve a double-digit sequential shipment growth target in the second quarter, while the other three saw shipments fall short of expectation, due to tight component supply.

With shipment deliveries deferred to the third quarter, the gap between supply of notebooks and their demand is expected to widen in the third quarter.

Quanta Computer shipped 19 million notebooks in the second quarter, down from 19.7 million in the first quarter, while Compal Electronics shipped 13 million units, slightly weaker than first-quarter 2021's 13.1 million.

In the second quarter, Wistron and Inventec shipped 6.1 million and five million notebooks, up 12.96% and 4.17% from a quarter ago, respectively.

The ODMs also pointed out that their orders for the third quarter will still grow from those in the second, but they have turned conservative about their third-quarter actual shipments as component shortages are still having a major impact at the moment.

Quanta's server shipments were also undermined by component shortages in the second quarter, but it still expects a double-digit percentage growth on year in 2021.

Compal expects shipments of non-PC products, such as wearables and tablets, to enjoy sequential growth in the third quarter, as the market has entered the traditional peak season.

Wistron's server and desktop shipments are expected to stay flat sequentially in the third quarter, while monitor shipments are expected to increase by a double-digit percentage.

Inventec's server shipments are also being impacted by component shortages, but its consumer electronics products will experience more serious shortages than notebooks and servers in the second half.