Will iPad Takeover 10-inch Netbooks?
Major netbook makers including HP and Dell have significantly reduced their investments in the 10-inch netbook segment, stating the reason that this low-cost market now offers minimal profits to hardware vendors. Major giants are now turning their focus towards AMD-based 11.6-inch notebooks because profits from Intel Pine Trail based netbooks have been lower than expected, according to sources. Reports also said that a majority of second-tier netbook vendors have quit the market after the top brands began cutting their prices in the second half of 2009. Acer, Asustek, and Samsung, however, remain active in the market.
Apple’s iPad remains the active reason for lower sales. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs made a statement for the popularity of inexpensive mini-notebooks. “Netbooks aren’t better than anything. They’re just cheap laptops,” Jobs said at the Jan. 27 launch of the iPad tablet computer in San Francisco. According to BusinessWeek, market research firm IDC has exposed new sales data that showed netbook shipments to retailers from January through March 2010 grew 33.6 year-over-year, to 4.8 million units. While that is still a boost, it pales in comparison to the first quarter of 2009, when netbook sales jumped 872 percent to 3.6 million units. Even a recent survey showed that most who plan to purchase an iPad intend to use it for work on the go. The poll of 770 smartphone owners found that more than half said the iPad, or a similar tablet, would serve as a netbook substitute.
Compared to iPad and what its offering, maybe it’s in the best interest for Netbook makers to soup up their products to really offer something the iPad can’t touch. But will the computer world be divided into two spheres, one for smaller tablets, the other for keyboard ultraportables? What’s your mind answer?
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