Taiwan's Compal beats Q2 f'cast on PC demand pick-up

TAIPEI, July 9 (Reuters) - Compal Electronics (2324.TW), the world's No.2 contract laptop PC maker, on Thursday said it shipped a better-than-expected 7.9 million units in the second quarter, in the latest sign of a pick-up in demand.

A key supplier to top PC brands such as HP (HPQ.N), Dell (DELL.O) and Acer (2353.TW), Compal Chang Chih-ming said the company shipped 2.7 million laptop PCs in June, adding to previously announced figures.

In May, the company said it expected second-quarter shipments to grow 15-20 percent sequentially, and that the second-quarter figure would be better than the higher end of its own forecast, representing growth of more than 25 percent.

Compal shipped 6.3 million laptop PCs in the January-March quarter.

Chang declined to provide a new forecast for the current quarter, and stuck to the company's previous guidance of shipping between 32 million and 35 million laptop PCs this year.

The company released its shipment figures after the Taiwan stock exchange closed on Thursday. Its shares were up 2.77 percent, compared with a 1.20 percent advance on the benchmark TAIEX share index .

Many technology companies in Taiwan have benefitted from growth in demand for computers and other consumer devices, especially from China as a result of stimulus spending on the mainland.

Other technology companiess have reported similar results, with June revenue at UMC (2303.TW), the world's No.2 contract chipmaker, at its highest level in 11 months. [ID:nTP116807]

Compal's larger rival Quanta (2382.TW) also exceeded its second-quarter shipment forecast, it said on Wednesday. [ID:nTP113907]

(Reporting by Kelvin Soh; Editing by Chris Lewis)