15.4-inch Powerbooks Ramping Up?

Digitimes reports that Compal Electronics will be producing the first 15.4" wide-screen notebooks from Apple Computer.

According to sources, Compal will start shipping 15.4-inch wide-screen PowerBooks for Apple in the second half of this year, with initial monthly shipments estimated at 30,000-40,000 units.

No details regarding the processor utilized are provided in this report. Rumors of 15" PowerBook updates have been filtering in since January... with more reports emerging recently. MacRumors' Buyersguide recommendation has been updated to reflect the expectations of imminent updates. A few reports have pointed in the same direction. Again, one site claims 970 PowerBooks in production at this time, but has had a poor reliability record and this should be taken with an appropriate amount of skepticism.