Netbooks proved the 2008 phenomenon in an otherwise unexciting computer market – the only bright spot when sales tanked toward the end of the year.
Sahipments of these inexpensive, lightweight and more energy-efficient laptops designed for wireless Web communications came to about 11 million for last year.
Sales estimated to triple this year
They appear ready to take off in 2009, perhaps finally cannibalizing sales of traditional notebooks, as some in the industry have feared but so far denied.
ABI Research estimates shipments of netbooks could come to nearly 35 million in 2009 and rise to 139 million by 2013.
“The advent of low-cost, power stingy x86 (processors, such as Intel’s Atom) and ARM processors were the technical keys,” says ABI.
“In recent years, the industry still expected smartphones to be more than they turned out to be, and most recently, MIDs (mobile Internet devices) were thought to be the next big mobile devices segment,” says Practice Director Kevin Burden.
What the techies overlooked was the compelling nature of price.
The acceptance of netbooks has taken the industry by surprise and we must not forget that the so called reserach agencies like gartner, idc by extension of their responsibility a part of the industry themselves.
They are surprised because despite thier recommendation of not to adopt netbooks – in the nameof experience, consumers kepton buying..because netbooks offered what the consumers were looking for – computing on the go, mobility internet, full QWERTY keyboard ( a little smaller though – but much bigger and convenient than the smart phone) and ability to run full personal productivity software…
ofocurse it robbed companies of it revenues and profitability. the comapnies which lost the most were aminstream computing companies like microsoft and Intel and followed by technology adopters like HP, dell, lenovo . only acer and asus derived benefits of the netbook success
[...] Netbook Sales Expected To Take Off « TechPulse 360 [...]
As the economy revives over the next year, the popularity of the netbook will ebb as consumers begin spending again on higher-performing portable PCs. He says the number of units shipped in Canada in 2010 is expected to come down to about 450,000. Netbook computer sales
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