Laptop makers facing supply shortages

According to DRAMeXchange, makers of laptop computers are currently facing a shortage of various components, and that could get worse this quarter.

The tight supplies of components started last quarter in the area of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, batteries, hard disk drives, casings, and optical disc drives.

In an eWeek report:

“The situation could grow more serious in 3Q07, as quarterly shipments are expeced to exceed 25.6 million, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 14.4 percent.”

It adds that on the whole, tier-two notebook brands will take a bigger hit, as they face both rising costs and lower than planned shipment volume as they ran into problems sourcing for sufficient quantities of the requisite components.

DRAMeXchange is a market research company dealing with the DRAM, Flash, and PC industries.

Do you reckon that we will be seeing more expensive laptops, or more reasonably, less freebies, for laptops packages towards the end of the year?

How often do you change your laptops anyway?