TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Hewlett Packard President and CEO Enrique Lores arrived in Taiwan on Sunday (March 7) for brief meetings with top executives of the American company's notebook component suppliers, media reported.

Following a visit to South Korea last week, Lores entered Taiwan on a private jet Sunday morning for a one-day trip under the country's quarantine-free "economic bubble," undergoing a COVID-19 test at the border. He is said to have met with top executives of the company's Taiwanese suppliers in a hotel.

The HP veteran reportedly observed the social distancing rule of 1.5 meters and abstained from eating during the meetings in line with the economic bubble requirements. Taiwanese panel makers AU Optronics and Innolux, power management IC vendor Richteck Technology, telecommunication IC manufacturer Realtek Semiconductor Corp., and contract laptop makers Quanta Computer and Inventec were on his guest list, Business Next reported.

The meetings were set up to express gratitude to the American company's Taiwanese suppliers and, most importantly, to call for more chips amid the Taiwanese chipmakers' extremely tight schedule.

Lores left the country that day right after the meetings.

As the global shortage of electronic components is worsening and likely to hamper HP’s growth, people familiar with the matter told Business Next that Lores' brief trip to Taiwan will help ease the crunch. The American tech giant is rumored to have turned down a massive order by the Indonesian government for 1 million PCs in 2020 due to a components shortage.

According to IDC, HP was the worst performer among the world's top five personal computer vendors last year in terms of shipments, with an annual growth rate of only 7.5 percent.