Is the Netbook Craze Winding Down?

Posted 09/30/2009 at 8:30am | by Paul Lilly

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Few could have predicted the wild popularity netbooks would enjoy, a sector which seemingly emerged overnight. But could the whole under-powered, ultra-portable mobile PC craze fade just as quickly as it was sparked?

Probably not, but the initial explosive growth may be leveling out. Those ever-chatty industry sources in Taiwan suggest that global notebook vendors are expected to be more conservative with their netbook shipments to channel retailers in 2010, news and rumor site DigiTimes reports. While the economy continues to struggle, vendors appear skittish over the netbook sector's razor thin profit margins.

But don't go sounding the death knell for netbooks. While shipments in 2010 aren't likely to match the 50 percent growth rate that 2009 saw, on-year growth is still expected to be in the neighborhood of 20 percent.

Meanwhile, renewed focus towards traditional notebooks means vendors also expect on-year notebook growth to rise from less than 10 percent in 2009 or 30 percent in 2010, the sources added.