Taiwan's Asustek Computer Inc. , the world's largest motherboard maker, said on Wednesday it aimed to ship 80 percent more laptops under its own brand this year from 2.7 million units in 2006.

"Orders right now are pretty good, so we are confident of hitting this target," Benson Lin, Asustek's Asia Pacific sales president, told reporters.

The forecast came after the Taipei stock market closed. Asustek shares rose 0.12 percent to T$83.20 on Wednesday, lagging a 0.4 percent gain in the benchmark TAIEX .

Asustek, which makes computers under its own brand also produces for top PC vendors like Apple Inc. , Dell Inc. and Sony Corp. .

The Taiwan company had said in January that it expects its overall 2007 laptop shipments to increase by 58 percent from a year ago, betting on growing demand driven by Vista, Microsoft Corp.'s new operating system.

But analysts say the Vista affect will not be reflected in global computer sales until the second half of 2007 or 2008.

Asustek competes with Acer Inc. in its own-branded business and electronics maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. in its contract manufacturing segment. (US$1=T$32.9)