Notebook makers, after suffering from a weak performance in January, are expected to see an overall on-month shipment growth of 10% in February as hard disc drive (HDD) supply returns normal, with Compal Electronics is estimated to have a chance to achieve more than 20% growth, according to sources from upstream supply chain.

The sources pointed out that the first quarter is the traditional slow season, but due to demand during the year-end holidays in western countries in 2011 being weaker than expected, the sequential shipment drop in the first quarter of 2012 will be only around 10-15%, less than that seen during the same period in previous years.

Quanta Computer shipped 3.8 million notebooks in January and expects its shipment volume in the first quarter of 2012 to drop 10-15% sequentially to 11.8-12.5 million units. With Apple set to launch a new MacBook Air model, Quanta's revenues are expected to grow further in the future.

Compal shipped 2.1 million notebooks in January and is expected to achieve more than 20% on-month growth in February shipments, while the company's shipments in the first quarter of 2012 will drop 10% sequentially and achieve double-digit sequential growth in the second quarter.

Wistron shipped 2.4 million notebooks in January with market watchers expecting shipments in February to grow 10% on month. Meanwhile, the company also estimates that its shipment volume in the first quarter will drop 10-15% on quarter to 7.99-8.46 million units.

Inventec expects its shipments in the first quarter of 2012 to reach four million units, flat on quarter with shipments in February to also maintain a similar performance as in January at 1.45-1.5 million units. Inventec's annual shipments in 2012 are expected to reach 17.6 million units.