Market adjustment gathered pace, and response speed determined the market pattern. With fast market growth, the notebook industry has entered a period of adjustment, and such adjustment gathered pace. Hotspot demands in the market are being dispersed. In particular, marketing in the consumer and SMB markets has become more difficult. This has forced vendors to make continuous adjustment from the aspects of product, channel and even organizational structure. In 2007Q1, vendors all set their new goals whether a new natural year started or their fiscal year ended. To achieve their goals, vendors also formulated corresponding development strategies and set up business teams. Different from big industry users, there are product variations, dispersed purchasing venues, brand randomness and other uncertain factors in the consumer and SMB markets.
Consequently, only those vendors which can fast respond to demands can win competitions. This has also forced many vendors to adjust their channel models. A monolithic sales model can no longer meet user demand. Even Dell, which has grown up on direct sales, is also setting up more experience centers to get closer to consumption terminals. As far as the development trend is concerned, channel adjustment looks inevitable for Dell.
There are changes amidst a stable overall brand competition pattern, and the next quarter will be crucial. As for brand competitions, Lenovo continued to take the No.1 spot in the market in 2007Q1, with a market share of 33.5%. Its brand and channel advantages are unrivaled by other vendors. HP also grew well. After adjusting its products and channels, it now has a rather clear growth project. Also, a more pragmatic work style allows HP to fast respond to market demand. Accer also grew well in China and even worldwide. But, it now needs to urgently solve some problems. For example, it faces a worldwide patent lawsuit from HP. There are also voices of discord from its distribution channels in the domestic market. Due to such factors as internal adjustment, Founder Notebook entered a low period in Q1. There are rumors of a possible take-over. This has directly affected its business performance. Currently, there are many uncertainty factors in the market. There are rumors of A&Ms and personnel changes.
However, be it assets integration, personnel adjustment, structural adjustment, product adjustment or channel adjustment, all will be reflected in Q2. The next quarter will be key to the development of many enterprises. Product configurations are homogenized, while price competition is still the key aspect. Currently, there are many personalized demands for product configurations. But, there is still serious homogenization of the products provided by vendors. This is particularly true of low- and middle-end products. Price is still the main aspect of competition. Dual-core technology is already mature. However, single core Celeron and Pentium products are still the best configurations in the low-end price wars. However, the current price trend shows that low-price dual-core products have reached the bottom price line. In the future, dual-core products will offer more notable advantages.
