Netbooks rise, notebooks fall
Netbooks continue to soar in sales at the expense of the venerable notebook, according to a new report from DisplaySearch.
Revenues for Netbooks, or mini-notebooks, rose to $3 billion in the second quarter of the year, a leap of 264 percent over the second quarter of 2008, according to the new "Quarterly Notebook PC Shipment and Forecast Report" released Thursday. With those gains, Netbooks now enjoy an 11.7 percent share of the portable PC market.
Though traditional notebooks still command an 89 percent slice of the market, their second quarter sales fell to $23.2 billion, a 14 percent decline from the second quarter of 2008.
Measuring 2009's second quarter against the prior year's quarter, sales fell in all subcategories of the portable PC market, including ultraportables and desktop replacements, the report noted. PCs in the 13-inch to 16-inch range managed to eke out a gain, but only measured against the first quarter of 2009.
The low prices of Netbooks appeal to consumers looking for a second PC and to those in emerging markets who don't need the rich and costly features of a large laptop. The market has also been buoyed by cable and telecommunications providers who have doled out Netbooks to customers who sign up for lengthy contracts.
Despite their growing market share, Netbooks have brought down revenue in the portable PC market due to their low average selling price (ASP).
"Mini-notes have been a significant contributor to volume growth in the portable PC market as their very attractive price points make owning a secondary computer viable for many consumers. However, the lower ASPs of these devices are clearly having a negative impact on portable PC market revenue," John F. Jacobs, DisplaySearch's director of notebook market research, said in a statement. "For 2009, we expect continued ASP erosion across all portable computer categories, leading to the first Y/Y decline of portable computer revenue."
DisplaySearch expects the sales trend to continue next year, with Netbooks accounting for 21.5 percent of all portable PCs shipped but bringing in only 10.9 percent of the revenue for the market.
Wait a second, isn't their a device called a Notebook? Is that just for notes?
What about laptops, can they be used only on laps. Or are they the erotic computer? They give "lap" dances, wink.
Boy, I'm so confused. I guess I'll stay with my desktop
Netbooks are very good for web surfing and emailing. Very meaningful things as far as I am concerned.
People who are disappointed with netbooks obviously had their expectations too high. I got mine knowing full well what it can and can't do, and I couldn't be happier with it. I use it every day to take to class and take notes on - any other laptop would be too expensive or too heavy (what can I say - I'm a poor college student with too much stuff to carry already), and it's great for surfing the internet as well.
Also, I'm going to take it on my 3 week jaunt to Europe this winter - I can use it for email, skype, uploading all my photos as I go, and other general tasks. Again, if anyone can point me to a more powerful laptop that is this light (since I have to carry it around) and this cheap (I could survive financially if it got lost), please do, but I don't think it exists. A netbook fits my secondary computer needs perfectly (and my primary self built desktop lives at home for any sort of real computing)
"Try doing anything meaningful on a 8 inch screen."
Yep, an 8" in screen might be a challenge...kind of why I didn't buy a MID. (FWIW - Netbooks are typically 9" & 10" screens)
In the future, try not to exaggerate specs just to validate your argument.
JoeF2 & streamline35 are dead on in their assessment.
Another thing,
"I read their satisfaction rate is less than 50%".
The problem here is you imply satisfaction rate is solely hardware related...had you considered what percentage of this satisfaction rate you cite is attributable to the Linux experience? Some people just aren't ready for Linux...and as a result, they're dissatisfied with the purchase - thereby inflating your figure. (I don't see that so much as a knock against a netbook, but more like a knock against Linux.)
Geez, what illogical stuff a self-proclaimed "voice of logic" can sprout...
So...welcome to the REAL world. When did ANYONE say that your or anyone else's job is guaranteed?
The OLPC project only shot themselves in the foot. They had the "Buy one, give one" initiative, which was successful. But the OLPC project wasn't able to actually deliver the laptops. Mr. Negroponte has had some great ideas, but he learned that you have to be able to deliver as well...
I wouldnt trust it to do my taxes on, or for heavy multi-media tasks, but as a 1.2 lb device with a 10" screen, it easily fits into my briefcase barely adding any weight. I can pull it out around the city, check the corporate email and so on.
It might not be the gas crisis that hit the auto industry, but it's about time that energy efficiency counted for something in the computing market.
Obviously the question is rhetorical - there's no way in hell the compaq is a better choice for me. Same situation I could give you for my Europe trip this winter - I need very cheap laptop to take (has to be cheap so if something happened to it, it wouldn't hurt me financially). Should I take a faster, heavier laptop with poor battery, or a slower lighter one with much better battery? Of course I'm going to go with the netbook again.
I think the incorrect assumption that people who bash netbooks make is that they assume it's going to be a primary computer. I love my netbook, but I would never use it as a primary computer. Instead I spend $1000 of a very powerful (self built) desktop, and $400 on a netbook. Compared to a $1400 laptop, my desktop is far superior power-wise, and my netbook is far superior portability-wise (and obviously I don't need power on the go).
I got mine with XP but put Windows 7 RC on it last spring and love it. Price was not the consideration for me. Size, weight, and battery life sold me. I will never carry a large heavy laptop again.
Likewise in emerging economies a bike is the transportation for a person on his way up - a vehicle to transport him to higher earnings so he can afford a small car, or ultimately an SUV. It doesn't cut into the market for those thinks because he can't afford them yet and if he doesn't buy the bike he never will.
Netbooks work the same way in the emerging economies that are the growth market for PCs. People buy them who literally cannot buy the notebook or desktop, gain the skills they need to earn more money, and then buy the more expensive one.
It's silly to lump these different things together and say that the one is preventing sales of the other when it's plainly not true. What's driving down sales of expensive PCs is two things:
1. "It's the economy, stupid." People who are out of work don't buy new toys unless they're really foolish.
2. PCs we bought four years ago are good enough. They still do all the stuff we bought them for, and then some.
Every year newer and better software comes out that extends the utility of the PCs we already have, and if it's well designed does it faster because advancing software technologies improve the performance of existing software, they don't decrease it. A new PC is not going to email any faster, browse the Internet any faster, let us write and print a letter any faster than we can type because four years ago a computer already did that far faster than we could, unless we choose to use software that's progressively poorly designed. It's not going to play audio any better than the 6 channel system that came with our PC. It might play blu-ray, but I think we don't care. What we need is a 24" widescreen LCD or a projector maybe, a faster internet connection, a nicer camera, a network printer that does photo color and reads our SDHC, a NAS to share our stuff through the house, a WiFi router and WiFi usb connection to use our neighbor's Internet to upload the stuff we want to post anonymously, a RAM and HDD upgrade, and the occasional OS reinstall to keep performance up to snuff. We don't really need a new PC, with a new OS, and all the headaches that come from figuring out how to make the stuff we already have work with it.
So the problem with notebook sales is that we either already have one and don't need a new one yet, or we can't afford one yet. It's not netbooks.
I'm also curious what kind of person would know enough to use photoshop, but be dumb enough to think it would run on a netbook...
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by burnedrock129
October 12, 2009 10:08 AM PDT
- Here is the issue I have with netbooks...
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(33 Comments)With all of the advancements we are making in multi-core cpu's i find it really frustrating to go back to a small form factor single-core UNDER 2Ghz processor.
I understand they are not made to be used for alot of performance but for gods sake throw in at least a dual core under 2Ghz and at least 2Gb of RAM.
This is not 2000 anymore, and lets face it, we all run multiple apps at once and want to be able to without a lag time similar to the dial up days.
As for the driveless attitude alot of these have...
I think thats ok but they should at least be able to develop a simple DVD-RW drive under $40 bucks, and definitely less than a $20 add on if in combo deals.
Lastly i think they should not be smaller than 10.1 and include 11.6 into the range.
I do not think we as the public need to go any more blind than we are already likely to because of the technology around us.
10-11 inches for a screen is a sufficient size to not only see clearly but also allow the room of a full size qwerty keyboard for those of us without alien fingertips.
PS> Putting AMD in a netbook is an awful idea. From experience AMD processors are never appropriate for laptop/notebook usage let alone a netbook. I have nothing against the company, as I use an AMD processor for the Desktop I built, however they have never come out with a mobile cpu I would be willing to use all the time for laptop use.