UPDATE 2-Compal adjusts 2009 targets, eyes No.1 slot

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TAIPEI, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Compal Electronics (2324.TW), the world's second largest contract laptop maker, said on Saturday its shipments this year could be 8.6 percent below its previous target as the global slowdown saps demand for tech products.

A key supplier to top PC brands such as HP (HPQ.N), Dell (DELL.O) and Lenovo (0992.HK), Compal now expects to ship 32-35 million laptops this year, compared to its previous forecast of 35 million, a company official said.

Compal, which trails bigger crosstown rival Quanta (2382.TW), shipped 25 million laptops in 2008, in line with its forecast given in December last year, the official added.

"If everything goes well, we hope to take over Quanta and become No. 1 this year," Compal President Ray Chen told employees at a company event, where he also reiterated this year's shipment numbers.

Quanta shipped about 36.5 million laptops in 2008, around 11.5 million more than Compal.

Compal posted a 6 percent fall in its December sales figures released after the market closed on Saturday, its second consecutive fall, while its 2008 revenue declined 3 percent.

The PC industry has been hit by a string of earning warnings in the past week, with major players such as chipmaker Intel (INTC.O) issuing its second revenue warning and Asustek (2357.TW) saying that it was unlikely to meet previously announced targets.

Analysts' forecasts for global PC shipments in 2009 vary, but many expect PC sales to fall this year, after having seen annual growth in the double digits for most of the past decade.

Compal gave its forecast after the Taiwan stock market closed on Saturday. Compal shares were unchanged, outperforming a 0.78 percent fall on the benchmark TAIEX share index. (Reporting by Kelvin Soh, Editing by Peter Blackburn)