News briefing 

        

The pandemic in Taiwan spread rapidly in May. To avoid cluster infection, the Ministry of Education announced on May 19 that schools of all levels across the country would stop conducting physical classes, while remote teaching (learning continues despite class suspensions) was adopted. This has seen an increased demand for notebooks and related devices leading to major manufacturing brands like Acer and Asustek announcing that they will step up supply to accommodate the demand.

 

 Impact analysis 

        

In addition to the effects of the pandemic, people in major foreign countries have already adapted well to the lifestyle of working at home and remote teaching in view of the repeated outbreak and reopening cycles, while the Taiwanese have only had the opportunity to experience such "home" life more recently.

 

When it comes to meeting the needs of work and self-learning, people have had to abandon their mobile phones and shift to more productive notebooks. Based on IDC statistics, notebook sales have soared since 2020 Q2, after the pandemic started spreading worldwide. Notebook shipments in the first quarter this year are the third highest in history.

       

In terms of product structure, the development of notebooks has encompassed the PCB industry of Taiwan, including motherboards to be applied to multilayer boards, CPU/GPU to substrates, panels and batteries to soft boards, and HDI to SSDs. 

As viewed, the PCB manufacturers of Taiwan have developed into a balanced and high-end layout in these four product categories. Although Taiwan’s market only accounts for a small share worldwide, large-scale and long-distance demands have brought forth increased sales of notebooks, triggered by the severe global pandemic.