Netbooks Are 20 Percent of Laptop Market

[jacobdrj]

I don't understand why companies didn't see this trend sooner. There will always be a market for uber performance in every field, and there are those who just want somethign to get the job done. Some people want a throw-away car like a Kia Spectra, so they can get from point A to point B. Some people will want BMW's. Until they started to produce what are now called 'netbooks' there was no real throwaway IT device that was actually functional. A smartphone and a normal cell phone and an PMP equates roughly (in this analogy) to a motorcycle, a scooter, and a pedal-powered-bike, respectively. They all have their place, at various amounts of functionality and price. You can't take your desktop on a roller coaster, and you can't do your video editing on a cell phone.
I just hope there is more innovation in this market segment for the foreseeable future.

 

[TheZander]

Horrible journalism language here:

"45 percent of netbook shipments went to Europe, Middle-East and Africa, while the North America only swallowed up 26 percent."

That is a prime example of bending the statistics to your own interpretation. Why is he lumping Europe (a continent) the Middle-East, and Africa (another separate continent into one category of 45% just so he can say North America only purchased 26%?? Is it just to make the article sound more interesting? (I realize it's not Marcus here at Tom's to blame, I found that wording originated in the COMPLETELY MISLEADING article he found the information on. THIS is what it should say:

North America accounted for 26% of all netbook sales while Africa, Europe, and the Middle East COMBINED only accounted for 45%.

North America population: 530,000,000
Africa population = 900,000,000
Europe = 731,000,000
Total = 1631 million (assuming that includes most overlapping middle east countries in the total)

530 million goes into that total about THREE TIMES so it's not even fair just to divide it up by two, but if you do, then Europe (assuming equal distribution regardless of total population) would account for 22.5% and Africa would account for 22.5%, still less than North America at 26%.

So, the correct journalistic interpretation would state, "Even though North America contains a third (or less) the population of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, they are still purchasing over a QUARTER of all netbooks sold worldwide. Per capita, North Americans purchase MANY MORE netbooks than Europe, Middle East, and Africa."

That would be far more correct and less misleading. Don't be fooled by the CRAPPY WORDING of the original article. North Americans don't ONLY buy 26%, they buy 26% compared to a population greater than triple its size who ONLY purchases 45%. They need to break it down by continent if they want to really demonstrate the true distribution.

 

[Guest]

I have an Asus 1000HE with the 6-Cell battery. I specifically bought it to be able to play movies when flying from Europe to the US. Thus far I've had no problems playing any video files and I get about 6 hours worth of movie playing time. What normal laptop exists today that can do the same thing for $350? I definitely would not have purchased anything if netbooks weren't available.