Reports Of The Death Of Notebooks Are Exaggerated: IDC
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Notebooks have received a ‘glancing blow’ from the emergence of media Tablets, but will not bring about their death, says a new International Data Corporation (IDC) forecast, which shows that a viable market will drive the continued growth of these portable computing devices.

Bob O’Donnell, program vice president, Clients and Displays, said: “IDC does not expect media tablets to bring about the death of mini Notebooks, although there’s no question that the focus of attention has shifted to these newer devices.”

One year ago, mini Notebook PCs, or Netbooks, were seen by many as the device that would fundamentally reshape the PC industry. With the emergence of Apple’s iPad, that expectation has shifted to the media Tablet.

O’Donnel said: “Given the range of capabilities and price points, it is very likely that consumers will acquire [Tablets] in various combinations, simply delaying the purchase of a new Notebook, for example, to add a media Tablet or mini Notebook as a companion to their main computing device.”

The mini Notebook category is expected to continue growing at a slower pace. Worldwide mini Notebook shipments are forecast to be 37.8 million units in 2010, up 10.3 percent from 2009. Over the next four years, the compound annual growth rate for the worldwide mini Notebook market will be 4.3 percent, topping out at 42.4 million units shipped in 2014.

The strongest potential markets for mini Notebooks are expected to be Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and Middle East and Africa, as governments in these regions follow through on large educational initiatives to bring mini Notebooks into the classroom.

In contrast, the market for mini Notebooks in the United States will experience growth in the low single digits over the forecast period while the Western European market is expected to decline by 11 percent from 2009-2014.

Acer and Asus grew their share of the mini Notebook market slightly during the first half of 2010, with HP in third place. Meanwhile Dell slipped to the fifth spot in the first half of 2010, overtaken by Samsung.

The IDC report, Worldwide Mini Notebook 2010-2014 Forecast and Analysis analyzes the worldwide mini notebook market across the 2007-2014 time period. The report provides shipment and revenue data by vendor, geographic region, and market segment as well as by screen size, drive type, and operating system.