Southeast Asia to be world's top laptop producer, surpassing China

Region will account for half of global output in 2030, says Taiwan think tank

Global shipments of notebook PCs will climb 6% this year due to the rise of telework and distance learning. © Reuters

YU NAKAMURA, Nikkei staff writer

September 26, 2020 00:12 JST

TAIPEI -- Southeast Asia will produce half of the world's notebook personal computers in 2030, a Taiwanese government think tank predicts, with Vietnam and Thailand pegged as main manufacturing hubs.

The region will displace China as the center of notebook PC production, according to the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC). China's rising labor costs and the desire to mitigate overdependence on a single region are expected to drive the shift to Southeast Asia.