Digitimes said that using common components will save cash being lost to rising Chinese labour costs. But it could mean that the notebooks launched in 2016 will have very similar specs.

Vendors are inclined to adopt the same motherboard for 11-inch and 13-inch notebooks and for 15- and 17-inch models. It has been unusual to find the same motherboard for 11- and 13-inch notebooks due to differences in processors.

To get around this, vendors are likely to adopt processors of the same or comparable specifications for 11- and 13-inch notebooks to be launched in 2016.

Adopting more common components will make inventory management and control easier, the sources said.