Bangalore: The total notebook PC market has posted a strong quarter-on-quarter (Q/Q) and year-on-year (Y/Y) growth and has passed 38 million units, according to report released by DisplaySearch. The report titled 'Quarterly Netbook PC Shipment and Forecast Report' also says that the netbook (called mini-note in the report) market is growing strong at 40 percent Q/Q, which is better than the 22 percent Q/Q growth rate of larger notebook PCs. The strong growth of netbooks drove their share of the portable computer markets to 22.2 percent in second quarter of 2009, as shown in Table 1.
Popularity of netbook is growing due to its cheaper cost. At the current growth rate, netbooks will soon be rivaling larger notebooks. Netbooks are selling most in growing markets like Latin America and Greater China, as shown in Table 2. There are many western countries where few telecom providers have been providing 100 percent subsidized netbook if the customers sign a two years data plan contract. Also, many cable operators are offering heavy discount on netbooks as an incentive to sign a contract for cable TV, internet and phone service.
Due to low prices of netbooks, it is now possible for customers to buy a secondary computer. "Mini-note PC screen sizes have increased steadily, from 7.0" to 8.9" and then to 10.2". Some panel makers and brands are promoting 11.6" mini-note displays, leading to an overlap with ultraportable notebooks. However, the higher prices of these larger netbooks diminish their cost advantage. In addition to many other key players in the supply chain, Microsoft indicated it is their desire to increase the ASP of mini-notes. A significant increase to the ASP of mini-notes may deter consumers that are predominantly using mini-notes as secondary PCs," said John F. Jacobs, Director of Notebook Market Research.
The report also claims that Asus, leader in Netbook market currently, has been steadily losing market share to companies like Acer, HP, Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba.
