The gaming notebook market is expected to see shipments of 4.5 million units in 2016, up 12.5% on year. Micro-Star International (MSI) is forecast to ship over 1.2 million units in the year, up from over 900,000 units in 2015, surpassing Asustek Computer in terms of both shipments and profits.
Countries including China, South Korea and Russia are treating e-sports as an official sport, and have been aggressively nurturing the industry. As a result, worldwide gaming notebook shipments have been rising over the past couple of years. Virtual reality becoming a new trend for 2017, and is also expected to increase related shipments.
MSI plans to release next-generation gaming notebook models featuring Nvidia's GTX 1080 discrete graphics card. MSI will launch a total of 10 gaming notebooks under its three major series. To differentiate from its competitors, MSI has made improvements in the devices' industrial design, materials, heat dissipation and sound quality.
With its new gaming notebooks and graphics card launches, MSI's revenues are expected to grow 25-30% sequentially in the third quarter, and product ASP is also expected to rise further.
Currently, gaming notebooks' mainstream prices are between US$1,499-1,999 and vendors have been competing aggressively in the segment. China-based Haier mainly focuses on US$1,000 entry-level gaming models, while Alienware, Asustek, MSI, Gigabyte Technology and Acer are all targeting the mid-range to high-end segment.
