by Anton Shilov
09/06/2002 | 09:46 PM
It looks like everything is against the computer components industry these days. The terrible flood in Europe affects computer sales in Germany, France, Poland, etc., unstable situation on the US stock market and a lot of economical issues all around the world also stop the industry from growing. We have reported you numerous signs that meant there will be no recover in September and the third quarter, this time we simply have another one from the Taiwanese DigiTimes.
According to Goldman Sachs analysts, mainboard makers will experience less than 10% of month-on-month growth in September, compared to the previous month. Frankly speaking it is not so bad for the current state of the market, especially keeping in mind that the first-tier mainboard makers reported their revenue rising this August, however, we should remember that the gross margins of the mainboard suppliers substantially fell, what alludes that manufacturers had to cut down the prices in order to sell their products. <%BANNER[article]%>
The situation worsens as air shipment fare to Europe rose by 15% in September, and air shipping fees to the US are soon going to follow. Since mainboard manufacturers ship 80% of their devices by air, higher shipping fare may force them to further lower the costs of their products. There is also a possibility that Taiwanese companies will do nothing about their pricing policy and the actual costs of their products in Europe will heighten, restraining the demand.