Netbook sales rising fast
Market research company IDC have produced sales figures showing over two million netbooks have sold in the EMEA region for Q3 2008. Pretty impressive to say the least. For fans of netbooks/sub notebooks this leap in popularity will come as no surprise. The question is; how will full sized laptops fare in future? Some commentators are suggesting the notebook will all but disappear - undermined but the low cost, highly portable netbooks that are coming to market. Add in the recent Intel announcement that the dual core Atom is ready and you’d be forgiven for predicting the demise of the trusty laptop.
But don’t be too quick to judge. Sure, netbooks are pretty hard to beat for users on the go especially when you consider the current low cost devices on the market. Personally, I love my HP 2133. The keyboard is almost perfect and the monitor is fine for general usage - up to a point. I have to admit that after an hour of staring at the 8.9″ screen I’m ready for the comfort of my 17″ laptop. Portability and low cost has attracted significant interest from both business and home users alike but don’t expect the netbook craze to completely replace standard laptops. Even 10″ screens on the like of the new Asus Eee PC S101 can be hard on your eyes with continued usage. Let’s face it, which do you prefer - an 8.9″ or 15″ monitor?
Another point to remember here is that this may just be a fad, albeit a rather profitable fad for the manufacturers, which could end rather rapidly. The low cost of the netbooks will definitely attract many users but this low pricing won’t last forever. As manufacturers push the specs ever upwards expect to see prices rise inline.
I’m not knocking netbooks in any way, simply questioning some of the views that the form will kill off laptops.
On a final note, IDC are predicting that the netbook sales figures will jump to over 4 million sales by the end of this year.
Similar posts:
