Based on requests for quotation (RFQ) received by Taiwan-based notebook ODMs, Dell aims to ramp up its notebook shipments by 40% to almost 30 million units in 2015, bringing it closer to Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard (HP), which are estimated to ship 32-35 million units, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

However, to ship 30 million notebooks will still pose a difficult challenge for Dell, the sources noted.

Dell is estimated to ship 20-21.3 million notebooks in 2014 and the 40% on-year growth in 2015 will be contributed mainly by enterprise models.

Compal Electronics and Wistron each landed 50% of Dell's consumer notebook orders for 2015. Since Compal received over 70% of Dell's enterprise notebook orders for 2014, some market watchers expect the ODM to maintain the same proportion for 2015.

With Microsoft no longer providing support for Windows XP, Dell has started seeing increased demand from the enterprise sector. Dell's solutions that bundle notebooks with its datacenter plans have also attracted orders from many enterprises.

In addition to the enterprise notebook market, Dell is also seeing strong sales from its gaming notebook business. The company's gaming sub-brand Alienware is enjoying increased sales in North America, which has boosted the company's gross margins.