Some Taiwan-based notebook vendors are planning to cut orders for touch notebooks by as much as 50% in the second half of 2013 due to lower-than-expected sales, which is expected to affect the performance of related supply chains.

Industry sources said notebook demand in Europe and the US in general has been weak and is not expected to improve significantly throughout the fourth quarter of 2013, which will further push down demand for touchscreen units.

Touch notebooks sized 15-inch are expected to see some of the steepest declines, the sources said, adding that touch panel makers are now looking to low-cost solutions for their customers as a way to help drop prices for touch screen notebooks.

As the trend for low-priced solutions increases while touch notebook demand is at a low, China-based touch panel makers are seeing orders shift to them, causing Taiwan-based touch panel makers and related supply chains to be affected the most.

Digitimes Research meanwhile said that global notebook shipments are expected to decline 14% in 2013 and about 10% in 2014.