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PC makers have been decrying the impact of low margin netbooks on their bottom line for over a year now, but Intel is trying to calm their fears by making new predictions for the future of mobile computing. Numbers posted at the end of March peg netbook sales at around 16 per cent of all portable computer purchases, but Intel claims the steadily decreasing cost of ultra-thin laptops will help to keep that number from growing. The ultra-thin category is traditionally dominated by new ultra low voltage CPU’s, which offer better performance than both Celeron, and Atom processors, with an increasingly more reasonable price premium. According to Intel’s marketing chief, Sean Maloney, "Atom is eating into Celeron. And we're quite fine with this".
Maloney predicts that ultra-thin laptops will start offering stiff competition for high end netbooks priced above $400, primarily because the price difference has shrunk in some cases to as little as a $200. Intel’s internal projections released during the May 12th presentation shows sales increasing exponentially near the end of the year, and clearly, this is where they expect to see the bulk of their growth in the portable PC market.
Intel predicts that future growth markets for netbooks will be children and cellphone providers who bundle 3G service with the computer to further subsidize the price to consumers. Do you think people only buy netbooks because they are cheap? Or are some people just looking for a good ultra-portable?
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worm8199
June 01, 2009 at 9:25am
I just got an Asus Eee PC 1000HA and I love it! It will never replaced my desktop but I have no problems taking notes, doing homework, running multiple programs. I've even been a little surprised that it runs some of the programs I use such as National Instruments Multisim and Boson NetSim and NetDesigner. I would've thought these programs would have this tiny laptop crying for mercy but no, the 1.6GHz Atom powers through them without a hiccup.
Even had there been a bigger more powerful laptop within a couple hundred dollars I wouldn't have gone for it. The whole reason I bought this was for taking notes at school and surfing the web in as small a package as possible. Accomplished!
MeTo
June 01, 2009 at 7:08am
Since i stoped playing games netbook is all i need. Laptops were never any good for games anyway every year or two you would have to buy a new one beacuse they were to slow. Linux,Inetnet Fire Fox,Open Office,Gimp for photos,10" screen. Thats all i realy need
Linux Mint,Duel boot/Vista,AMD Athlon+ x2 5600,3 Gig ram,500 Gig HDD,ATI 1300 Video.
Mytex
June 01, 2009 at 3:01am
Well, I can see the emergence of ultra thin notebooks certainly having an impact on netbooks but the price differential (at least at the moment) is still too great. Netbooks will remain a useful ultra portable tool for the masses for a while and then may maintain their popularity through students and education. Yes, the screens are small but what kids want to lug comparitively big machines around at school and college all day when they can get what they need from a smaller, lighter and cheaper device.
Gartner are also pridicting the increase in sales of Netbooks for 2009 whereas notebook sales are set to almost stagnate. Admittedly, I am unsure as to the impact of ultra thin notebooks on these figures.
In the meantime, many netbooks will continue to get bigger and many notebooks will continue to get smaller until we finally agree on an ideal size at which point slate machines or something totally new will become the popular choice. Heaven help anyone trying to keep on top of it all.
Tim Mulligan (http://www.mytex.co.uk/)
Mobile office bundles - wherever you are, whatever you need.
scholarwarrior
May 31, 2009 at 7:10pm
I would think that regular notebooks would decrease before ultra thins would.
It is true that they are all decreasing in price. still, half the appeal of netbooks is the size. I suspect the different types portables will blend eventually. ultra thins will get cheaper, and netbooks will get more powerful. When 10" netbooks offer 720p screens, dual core processors, and respectable graphics, they will be very compelling again. Granted, when all that is available, they will likely push $500, but will eventually drop again. I suspect netbooks will remain compelling just for the size.
SEALBoy
May 31, 2009 at 6:38pm
A sub-$500 ultra-thin notebook with a Dual-core Pentium or Core 2 Duo is something I would definitely look at. Netbooks are OK, but for me the screens are just too small and the CPU's too weak.
