Netbooks to affect the notebook industry this year

26th December, 2009 by Adina
Tags: Netbooks, News, Notebooks

The development of the netbook sector has negatively affected the performance of the whole notebook industry, as a DisplaySearch study reveals. Shipment of netbooks has reached 33.3 million, which means they have more than doubled, but their low prices have significantly decreased the revenue for the notebook industry by 12 percent, i.e. about $109.4 million. The revenue for netbooks was also incredibly low with a growth of 72 percent.

The researchers also say that mini portables combined with the current economy can affect the shipments and pricing of the full-size systems. Shipment of conventional notebooks is estimated at 5 percent, i.e. 136.3 million. They have seen the average price falling rapidly if compared to 2008, and ranging from 12 or 13 percent for regular notebooks or desktop replacements to an unexpected 23 percent in the case of ultraportables.

In 2010, netbook shipments seem to slow down and this would mean the industry would be healthier, even if this still means a loss of one percent of revenue. The field would have a shipment growth slowed down to 19 percent and the revenue dropped just a tenth of a percent. The effect might prove to be very positive for the rest of the industry. Most notebook types are expected to have revenue drops smaller than 10 percent and their prices to further decline. Systems like desktop replacements would have a 21 percent revenue increase, while shipments for other-than-netbook-systems would increase by 16 percent. The explanation resides in a certain lack in notebook designs. Notebooks with screens larger than 16 inches have become more affordable and they are continuously replacing both smaller notebooks and desktops because they are fast enough for their prices. Those people who want to buy smaller and cheaper systems can always choose a netbook instead of buying a smaller traditional design. Ultraportables are expected to boost their sales next year, as Intel’s Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) processors are more and more popular, putting many systems below $500.

All this information corroborated might justify decisions of avoiding entering the netbook industry for companies like Apple, for example, which has got record revenues and, at the same time, has kept high profit margins and prices at an average level. Competitors like Dell have had a decreasing income due to selling netbooks and shifting to budget notebooks. This has determined many customers to avoid buying high-end PCs. Windows PC developers that have had a large part of their business on the netbook segment have profited from the current market circumstances, and this is the case of companies like ASUS and Acer.

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