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Netbook shipments are set to double
SHIPMENTS OF NETBOOKS will double this year but mainstream laptop sales will be flatter than a pancake, according to projections by an industry soothsaying firm.
Fortune tellers at DisplaySearch read their tarot cards and worked out that netbook shipments this year could reach around 32.7 million units.
Punters will be rushing to the shops to buy them because they are as cheap as chips and have better hardware capabilities than the early versions, the company reckons.
John Jacobs, director of laptop research at DisplaySearch claimed that shipment volumes will be close to double that of the 16.4 million netbooks that shipped last year. Previously the outfit had guessed that only 27.5 million netbook shipments would be made this year.
He added that netbook shipments will also take a larger chunk out of worldwide laptop shipments as mainstream shipments of full-sized laptops stall. Worldwide mainstream laptop shipments will total 129.5 million units which will be about the same as last year.
Buyers like netbooks because of competitive pricing between $300 to $500, Jacobs said. PC makers have also improved netbook hardware with larger screens and keyboards, which could further boost demand.
He pointed out that it was helpful that PC makers are also offering netbooks with better graphics capabilities, such as the IdeaPad S12 netbook, which has a 12-inch screen that can play full high-resolution movies. µ
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"improved netbook hardware.... larger screens"
Yeah, I want a 19 inch netbook with SLI/Crossfire!
Wasn't that the whole POINT of these things in the first place?
Netbooks, to my mind, were meant to be small, cheap, relatively simple machines designed for web-browsing, email and so on... But now manufacturers seem determined make them bigger, more expensive, to call them mini-laptops, ultrathins, whatever phrase you want...
I own a Samsung NC-10 and I love it. I can browse the net on a screen that's far bigger than my mobile phone, I can send emails, I can watch the BBC iplayer, I can even work on technical documentation through Word, and all this in a machine that's the same size and weight as a hardback book. If I wanted a damn laptop, I would have BOUGHT a laptop!