Is the Netbook Era Coming to an End?
PrintIt was a good run for netbooks, but despite how popular the market segment has been up to this point, the torch is being passed to tablets, suggests market research firm Forrester Research. According to Forrester, it will take just 24 months for tablet PCs to jump ahead of netbooks in sales.
"Tablet growth will come at the expense of netbooks, which have a similar grab-and-go media consumption and Web browsing use case as tablets but don't synchronize data across services like the iPad does," Forrester Research Analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said in a statement. "Consumers didn't ask for tablets. In fact, Forrester's data shows that the top features consumers say they want in a PC are a complete mismatch with the features of the iPad. But Apple is successfully teaching consumers to want this new device."
Forrester predicts tablet makers will sell some 20.4 million slates in 2015 just in the U.S., representing a compound annual growth rate of 52 percent. Meanwhile, Forrester says desktop sales will continue to decline in the next five years, dropping from 18.7 million units sold this year to 15.7 million units in 2015. After the dust settles, Forrester sees notebooks leading the pack in 2015 with a 42 percent share of the market, followed by slates with 23 percent, desktops at 18 percent, and netbooks trailing all others at 17 percent.
Image Credit: kcybulski.com
More like this
Devo85x
June 18, 2010 at 3:20pm
The only reason I would ever actually spend money on a netbook would be to buy a cheap one for a computer to use to control my server(s) at my house.
aviaggio
June 18, 2010 at 10:10am
I think the bigger issue is the netbook vs notebook argument. Much of what we today call "netbooks" are really just small notebooks. Now if we're talking about *real* netbooks (y'know, the $250-$300 ones with 7-10" screens, not the $400-$500 ones with 10-12" screens), then yes I can see tablets pushing them out of the market. But tablets are never going to supplant the laptop.
I do also question their market share predictions. Don't get me wrong, I really want an Android tablet. But I don't think they're gonna take 23% of the market or outsell desktops. Not gonna happen. They aren't standalone devices, and as others have pointed out, they are rather limited in what they can do due to the lack of a keyboard.
I think if the iPad has taught us anything is that we should view tablets as big multimedia devices and not full-blown computers. I think anyone who tries to use one as a real computer is going to be disappointed.
Travis Penner
June 18, 2010 at 8:15am
Seriously? There's no way any form of tablet is going to replace my netbook.When I want comfortable on the go computing, my netbook is my buddy. (I would've killed for this baby in 1990) Until tablet PC's can give the exact same experience as a netbook, there's just no way. I need a keyboard at the very least to do the things I want to do on it. Writing,surfing the net, checking out Steam, playing old games from 1995. You just CANT do that on a tablet.
Travis
RtDK
June 18, 2010 at 7:47am
I like my physical keyboard, thanks. Until a computer can process my brainwaves and type what I THINK it to, I'm happy with my netbook. I get more functionality out of if than I do a similarly-priced tablet anyway, leading me to believe that tablets are merely expensive toys.
MleB
June 18, 2010 at 5:51am
...in which to give whatever tablets out there real computer and storage capabilities with an OS that isn't a hobbled version and/or specific to each manufacturer, isn't simply a content delivery device and offers an extensive and diverse range of familiar, stable, useful and fun software/apps. Then keep the device light and be competively priced.
If they can't do that, they won't supplant netbooks or inexpensive notebooks and will remain simply the device of certain manufacturers' fans or for certain industry-specific users - providing the software exists for them.
Bluntknife
June 18, 2010 at 5:00am
I'll be sticking with my netbook.
I don't think I'll ever be able to bring myself to type notes on a touchscreen.
TheZomb
June 18, 2010 at 10:48am
How about writing notes on the screen with some sort of pen. The second you have to make few drawings or do symbolic math, you will be laughing at anyone who tries to do this with a keyboard.
TheZomb
June 18, 2010 at 10:48am
How about writing notes on the screen with some sort of pen. The second you have to make few drawings or do symbolic math, you will be laughing at anyone who tries to do this with a keyboard.
greencpu
June 18, 2010 at 11:02am
I type much faster and WAY more legibly than I write. I would like both a physical keyboard and a touch/pen interface.
---www.sci-guys.com - sci-fi and other cool stuff---
Bender2000
June 18, 2010 at 5:20am
The predictions are for what you'll buy next. Maybe laptops will come down in size and price to eliminate netbooks altogether. Maybe even tablets will morph into netbooks, adding a keyboard isn't out of the question. A small laptop running ARM and Android qualifies as a netbook? Or a modified tablet? EIther way the days of the Atom/Windows combo is numbered.
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
We introduce Intel's latest class of tablet killers and review 4 of the first Ultra...
Where have all the memorable videogame enemies gone?
This month's issue
Feature
11 Hardware Hacks
Feature
Overclock Your CPU
How-To
Supercharge Your Smartphone
Build It
A Powerful $830 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Here's what the @horse_ebooks bookmarklet (http://t.co/brE6898A) does to Maximum PC: http://t.co/Y6OhO6zk7 hours 50 min ago
- maximumpc: Microsoft on Patents: Can't We All Just Get Along? http://t.co/g0vginvG10 hours 11 min ago
- maximumpc: Google Drive Cloud Storage: Is Google Preparing To Muscle In On Dropbox? http://t.co/lCWzeYmS10 hours 36 min ago
