Taiwan-based notebook vendors and ODMs are guardedly optimistic about the prospects of the notebook market for the second half of 2015 and are pinning their hopes on the release of Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system.

While there is traditional sales momentum in the second half driven by back-to-school demand and the year-end shopping season, prospects for the global economy still remain uncertain, pushing notebook vendors and ODMs to keep inventories at low levels.

Acer CEO Jason Chen has said that Acer is conservative about the business outlook for the second half and is keeping inventories at the lowest possible level in order to cope with uncertainties upon the release of Windows 10.

Depreciation of the euro has also weakened the purchasing power of consumers in Europe, adding more pressure on Acer, as sales in Europe accounted for 36% of the vendor's total revenues in the first quarter of 2015.

Quanta Computer expects its notebook shipments to continue to grow in the second half, making revenue ratios for the first and second halves 45:55, said company vice chairman CC Leung.

However, Quanta's overall notebook shipments will stay flat in 2015 compared to a year earlier. Additionally, Quanta is adjusting business operations, aiming to ramp up the ratio of non-notebook products to 50% of its total sales compared to 40% currently.

Quanta is also actively stepping into the cloud computing sector, including the production of servers and related equipment.

Inventec will also see the ratio of its notebook revenues decline in 2015. It is also conservative about whether the arrival of Windows 10 will kick off replacement demand for notebooks as Microsoft has modified its business model and will no longer count on the licensing of its OS products for generating earnings. However, this change is positive for the notebook industry.