Quanta and Compal cautious on H2 laptop demand - paper

TAIPEI, July 29 (Reuters) - Quanta (2382.TW) and Compal (2324.TW), the world's two largest laptop contract makers, turned cautious on laptop PC demand for the second half of the year due to a global economic slowdown, a local newspaper said on Tuesday. The Economic Daily News quoted Compal Electronics Inc President Ray Chen as saying the subprime woes have caused an impact on global demand for laptops, while the Chinese-language newspaper said Quanta Computer Inc Vice Chairman C.C. Leung had expressed concerns over the laptop market if the global economy deteriorates.

Leung's comments came after Quanta Vice President Elton Yang said earlier this month that his company had yet to see a negative impact on its sales from the global economic slowdown.

Company officials were not available for comment. However, Quanta's shipment target of a 15 percent rise in the thirdquarter from the second quarter remained unchanged and Quanta still expects to ship 40 million units this year, the paper said.

In the same quarter, Compal left its shipment growth forecast of 20 percent unchanged, the paper said, without giving both firms' shipment forecasts for the second half.

Quanta and Compal supply to top PC brands such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) and Dell (DELL.O).

By 0212 GMT, Quanta shares were down 4.2 percent and Compal shares off 5.3 percent, underperforming the main TAIEX's 3.3 percent drop. (US$1=T$30.4) (Reporting by Baker Li, Editing by Nick Macfie)