Touchscreen notebook shipments may reach 4.2 million units in the second quarter, up 70% sequentially, as the production yield rate of touch panels has been improving, helping to lower related costs, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

However, overall notebook shipments are only expected to have sequential growth of 4-5% in the quarter.

As touch panel ASPs are expected to drop from US$70-80 currently to US$50 in the third quarter, the sources believe the pricing should help improve the penetration rate of touchscreen notebooks.

In additional news, although most notebook ODMs enjoyed 30-40% on-month shipment growth in March, their shipment performances are expected to become stable in April but be weak in May, and are unlikely to start growing until June.