PC sales have been suffering ever since the introduction of tablets, but they may be poised for a comeback. According to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, chip orders from PC and smartphone clients have increased dramatically. TSMC isn’t the only one though, Citi noted improving/stabilizing PC demand in an investor’s note and upgraded Intel.
After years in the doldrums, PC sales might be poised for a comeback, if orders for base components are any indication. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has reportedly landed a big batch of orders from PC and smartphone chip clients for delivery in the second half of January 2014, according to the Taiwan-based tech news site DigiTimes. This would indicate a rebound in sales in the latter half of the year. It takes at least one quarter to manufacture notebooks, which are the predominant PCs sold now. Desktops take less than a quarter to mass produce because they are easier to build. Laptops, with so much crammed into them, just take a little longer to manufacture. So between the time needed for component manufacturing, computer build time, packaging and shipping, component orders placed now will probably hit stores in completed PCs in the third quarter of this year.