Omdia's latest tablet and notebook panel supply chain report reveals that Chinese manufacturers have consistently expanded their share of the global notebook contract manufacturing market, maintaining an all-time high of 35% throughout both 2024 and 2025.
However, the market landscape is set for a significant shift in 2026. The surging demand for AI servers is redirecting semiconductor capacity toward AI-related products, creating supply constraints and cost pressures for critical notebook components such as central processing units, memory, and integrated circuits. These factors, combined with rising device prices, are expected to dampen global notebook demand. Omdia projects that global notebook contract manufacturing volume will decline by approximately 10% year-over-year in 2026.
This contraction in market demand, alongside escalating supply chain costs, will place significant strain on second-tier contract manufacturers with weaker bargaining power in material procurement. In response to these market conditions, Omdia anticipates that some Chinese second-tier notebook manufacturers will see their 2026 shipment volumes fall short of initial expectations.
Where to begin understanding these changes? The tightening supply chain and rising component costs are prompting PC brands to prioritize supply stability and delivery reliability. Consequently, some orders previously placed with second-tier Chinese mainland manufacturers may shift back to Taiwanese contract manufacturers to ensure consistent product delivery. As a result, the market share held by Chinese mainland manufacturers in notebook contract manufacturing is expected to decline by roughly 4% compared to 2025, although it should still maintain approximately 32% in 2026, supported by key players like Lianbao and Huaqin.
Despite this short-term dip, Chinese mainland manufacturers have sustained a global market share exceeding 30% for four consecutive years since 2022. Among these manufacturers, Lianbao, which primarily focuses on producing Lenovo notebooks, remains a cornerstone in preserving China's market presence.
Huaqin, on the other hand, has emerged as a rising force in the Chinese notebook contract manufacturing sector. The company has established partnerships with all top six PC brands, including Lenovo, HP, ASUS, and Acer, while also serving orders from domestic Chinese brands and Japanese and Korean PC companies. Omdia forecasts that Huaqin's notebook contract manufacturing volume will reach approximately 16 million units in 2026. Since 2023, Huaqin has ascended to become the world's fifth-largest PC contract manufacturer.
What about the emerging players? Among newer Chinese notebook manufacturers, LuxShare is gradually developing notebook contract manufacturing operations with Dell and ASUS, while Greatwall is closely collaborating with ASUS and Acer. Additionally, companies previously focused on solution design or motherboard design, such as Weibu, Emdoor, and SixUnited, have recently been actively engaging with Taiwanese PC brands including Acer, ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte, progressively expanding their notebook contract manufacturing business.
Looking ahead, Omdia's senior principal analyst Linda Lin notes that the rise of Chinese mainland notebook contract manufacturers is creating competitive pressure on Taiwanese manufacturers' market share. With the rapid growth in AI server demand, Taiwanese manufacturers are increasingly inclined toward high-margin AI orders, which may accelerate the shift of some PC brand orders to Chinese mainland manufacturers. While Chinese contract manufacturers continue to pursue stable production quality and improved manufacturing yields, the industry will likely experience some volatility this year due to rising supply chain costs and component shortages. Nevertheless, in the long term, as Chinese mainland manufacturers enhance their manufacturing capabilities and leverage their competitive advantages in cost and pricing, PC brands are expected to further expand their order allocation to these manufacturers. As the supply chain landscape continues to evolve, the role of Chinese mainland manufacturers in the global notebook manufacturing market is poised to strengthen further.