The launch of the Apple iPad and new tablet PC’s later this year by PC manufacturers could spell the death of the humble netbook claims a leading research Company
John Jacobs, DisplaySearch’s notebook market research director, claims that the advent of the iPad and the upcoming rollout of slates by other vendors, will result in sales of netbooks declining with Companies like Acer and Asus who were the first Company to launch a netbook being hit by the downturn.
In a recent report DisplaySearch said that during the first quarter, Apple shipped 700,000 iPads, comprising about 6.5 percent of the 10.15 million units shipped in the netbook/slate notebook sub-category. In addition, Apple has reported shipping 2 million iPads during just the first two months of the second quarter, which DisplaySearch estimates will give Apple about 30 percent of the market for that period.
DisplaySearch said that as additional non-Apple slates are rolled out later this year, the traditional clamshell netbook could continue to lose share.
Jacobs said “Apple has ported their successful iPhone app business model to the iPad. Android-based phones followed in their footsteps and will surely do the same with slates,” he said.
Overall, the notebook category posted its highest revenue amount in two years.
Despite continuing falling prices for notebook computers, dollar revenue hit a two-year high during the first quarter, according to DisplaySearch.
The research company reported that the notebook market hit $31.1 billion during the first quarter 2010 worldwide. This is the highest total posted since the first quarter of 2008. Making this gain more impressive is average selling prices for these products were 20 percent higher in 2008, said DisplaySearch.
The mini-note/netbook/slate was the biggest gainer among the four notebook categories tracked by DisplaySearch. First-quarter sales were up 56.4 percent to $3.54 billion. DisplaySearch credited the increase to newer units having better processors and more features, thus pushing up the average selling prices.
