Growth in the tablet market slowed down in the third quarter due to market saturation. Global market research firm TrendForce’s latest tablet shipment report reveals shipments worldwide during this period totaled 39.3 million units, up slightly by 6.8% from the previous quarter. Vendors will be relying on new products or promotion deals to drive shipments in the final quarter, which is likely to account for much of the sales this year.
The latest DRAM price report from DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, finds that the average contract price of DDR3 4GB modules fell by 10% from US$18.5 in September to US$16.75 in October. The lowest contract price in the market is currently at US$16.5. Both monthly and quarterly contract prices dropped as the outlook of the notebook market has become more conservative after the peak season.
After experiencing shipment slump in the first half of 2015, branded notebook vendors aim to finish the year off with a strong recovery by making a comeback with an all-out effort to expand their shipments. Notebook demand remained strong in the U.S. and started to pick up in China. The stabilization of currency exchange rates has also resulted a gradual turnaround in the European notebook market.