Shipments of netbooks have grown at more than twice the rate of larger format laptops in the second quarter of 2009, according to market researcher DisplaySearch. The netbook market saw a 40% growth rate, compared to 22% for laptop PCs.
The popularity of the small, light and high portable netbooks has spread beyond the intended consumer niche and moved firmly into the mainstream, with business users adopting at unexpected levels.
Almost every major laptop manufacturer now offers a netbook line, with the divisions between the lower ranges of laptops and netbooks being deliberately blurred. With prices from as low as €300, netbooks are enjoying major sales success.
Netbook pioneer Asus has steadily lost ground to later entrants to the market, with brands such as Acer, HP, Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba increasing their share.
Latin America and China have seen greatest penetration of netbooks, says DisplaySearch, but in Western Europe sales have been boosted by retail deals offering either free or heavily subsidised netbooks with internet connectivity packages.
All of this is good news for netbook users as demand has driven development to ensure that the initial offerings in the space have been vastly outclassed in terms of performance, features and design. Recent entrants to the netbook market can boast high performance screens and high definition HDMI video outputs.
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers