Netbook Market Dropped Due To Economy Downturn

[porca misèria]

You'll be sadly disappointed if you want it to actually replace a laptop, unless all you do is surf. Even then, none of the tablet based browsers offer the functionality of Firefox/Chrome/IE.

Then run firefox on it!

The native browser on my tablet is a Firefox version optimised (nicely) for small screens. It'll also run firefox itself.

[jones87]

I think they were a fad, then the iPad happened.

[Pauly_Boy]

Personally, I feel it's more down to the wider choices including smart phones, iPads and iPhones. £200-250 is alot of money for a woefully under powered machine. I sold my two month old Dell Inspiron on eBay and used the proceeds for my iPhone 4, it's infinitely better.

Agreed, I was thinking of buying a netbook, but my iphone4 makes it completely pointless!!

[MarkG]

Agreed, I was thinking of buying a netbook, but my iphone4 makes it completely pointless!!

Every time I try to use the Internet on a friend's iPod I'm so glad I have a netbook... an iPad would solve the tiny screen problem, but it still wouldn't solve the lousy text entry problem.

[Ruffneck]

This article would be akin to saying 'audio cassette sales are down due to the poor economy' or something like that.

Nothing to do with the economy , more just a technological fad like iomega ZIP disks that died off with improving technology and more competitive pricing for superior products (like CD Burners).

[Lone_Twin]

Personally, I feel it's more down to the wider choices including smart phones, iPads and iPhones. £200-250 is alot of money for a woefully under powered machine. I sold my two month old Dell Inspiron on eBay and used the proceeds for my iPhone 4, it's infinitely better.

Spot on (writing from an HTC desire) plus a lot if people are waiting to see if the next gen of Android tablets are any good.

Should be a lot cheaper than crapple's offering.

[Ah-so]

I have a Samsung NC10, which I basically bought as back-up for the desk. I allows for basic surfing, is very light and portable, whereas laptops weigh a ton. However, I would never want it as my main PC - it is too fiddly.

[Bloo Loo]

Mrs Loo loves her netbook...now two years old....she surfs, shops and emails.

no contract required.

course, many phones are now doing the internet thing, so when it breaks, maybe one of those...and the Kindle now has Free 3G and the internet, so no browsing costs there.

the market has just moved on.

as for the new fangled tablets...well, we sold loads about 5 years ago...never caught on...the Ipad will go the same way IMHO. a fad for the gadget boys.

[The Masked Tulip]

I think Apple's share price will hit a problem late in 2011 - it is going to be hard to get people to upgrade from the iphones they bought this year whilst cheaper competitors in the shape of Android and Windows phones catch up.

The ipad will have to drop in price ocnsiderably to get more buyers but by next Christmas there will be lots of competition in the field.

Apple are going to have to dig another new WOW gadget out of the hat in 2011 - doubt they can do it.

[theblacksheeple]

The thing that amuses me more than anything is how Windows is considered King of the operating systems [by the masses, backed up on a sales volume basis].

It is by far the worst of the three main OS's for everything [bar gaming], all it's idea's are stolen and it is designed to be open to virus's to ensure quick replacement and lining the pocket of the anti virus providers in the process. If more people knew of Ubuntu I am sure Microsoft would soon up their game and actually make a decent OS capable of competing with Apple. Microsoft's offer main problem is too many manufacturers building systems for them using sub standard parts.

The British problem is we hate paying for anything, want electronics to be as cheap as possible and then moan when they don't work properly. Manufacturers realize most consumers are completely pig ignorant and so as long as they can get a “good” processor into a machine at a cheap price people will buy it and think it's great.

There is no doubt laptop's [notebooks] have dropped in price significantly and you can now get a I3, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD machine for sub 400 quid, however to achieve this manufacturers are stuffing machines with shitty mother boards and pin hole sized Front Side Bus. People see the I3, here it's the latest thing and think wow. You will also notice that it is very difficult to find FSB and mother boards quoted freely by retailers for reason's mentioned above.

I have seen a couple of people on here say Mac's are expensive, I think this is the wrong language to use [i am not going to degenerate this into a MAC vs PC argument], Mac's are a significant investment and that insures quality parts throughout from a single manufacturerr, Not aHodgee Podgebastardizedd mix of a bit of everything. If you are going to go PC insist on a custom build Unit/ laptop with all quality parts and be prepared to pay you will get a much better quality result. Also give Ubuntu a try.

Net books are what they are cheap net browsers and basic word processors. I have one at the moment a shitty Dell and an I Phone four. The net bookk does me ok for the moment to go on facebook, house price crash and green energy investors. I am going to get into photography at some point next year so going straight for a MAC Book Pro or IMAC, If I go IMAC I may also invest in a secondary laptop on Ubuntu.

[theblacksheeple]

I think Apple's share price will hit a problem late in 2011 - it is going to be hard to get people to upgrade from the iphones they bought this year whilst cheaper competitors in the shape of Android and Windows phones catch up.

The ipad will have to drop in price ocnsiderably to get more buyers but by next Christmas there will be lots of competition in the field.

Apple are going to have to dig another new WOW gadget out of the hat in 2011 - doubt they can do it.

I have heard from several people in the know that Windows phone's [like anything windows] are experiencing major problems with virus's. On the Tablet front the only really decent one's thus far are the Samsung Galaxy S and the I Pad. PS if i were to get an I Pad i would wait until late 2011 when the updated I Pad should be launched.

Expect an even better screen resolution and two decent camera's [unlike the Samsung Galaxy S, 3 Mega Pixel Camera wtf is that] Also expect an SD Card slot, and maybe a USB slot too.

[The Masked Tulip]

I have heard from several people in the know that Windows phone's [like anything windows] are experiencing major problems with virus's.

FUD.

[theblacksheeple]

FUD.

One of the big things is virus's that remove all your contacts Have heard of several people who have had issues. I could sugar coat it or tell things as they are. So it is not a case of FUD. HTC, Android or I Phone 4 seem the current best of class for smart phone's.

[Ruffneck]

I have seen a couple of people on here say Mac's are expensive, I think this is the wrong language to use [i am not going to degenerate this into a MAC vs PC argument], Mac's are a significant investment and that insures quality parts throughout from a single manufacturerr, Not aHodgee Podgebastardizedd mix of a bit of everything. If you are going to go PC insist on a custom build Unit/ laptop with all quality parts and be prepared to pay you will get a much better quality result. Also give Ubuntu a try.

Bulldust , MACs use PC parts now , even the processor.

You could build a PC using the same parts for 1/3 the price.

Macs are an incredible ripoff , everything by apple is , look at the price they want for crap like replacement ipod headphone 'buds' , crazy.

[JonoP]

The thing that amuses me more than anything is how Windows is considered King of the operating systems [by the masses, backed up on a sales volume basis].

It is by far the worst of the three main OS's for everything [bar gaming], all it's idea's are stolen and it is designed to be open to virus's to ensure quick replacement and lining the pocket of the anti virus providers in the process. If more people knew of Ubuntu I am sure Microsoft would soon up their game and actually make a decent OS capable of competing with Apple. Microsoft's offer main problem is too many manufacturers building systems for them using sub standard parts.

The British problem is we hate paying for anything, want electronics to be as cheap as possible and then moan when they don't work properly. Manufacturers realize most consumers are completely pig ignorant and so as long as they can get a “good” processor into a machine at a cheap price people will buy it and think it's great.

There is no doubt laptop's [notebooks] have dropped in price significantly and you can now get a I3, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD machine for sub 400 quid, however to achieve this manufacturers are stuffing machines with shitty mother boards and pin hole sized Front Side Bus. People see the I3, here it's the latest thing and think wow. You will also notice that it is very difficult to find FSB and mother boards quoted freely by retailers for reason's mentioned above.

I have seen a couple of people on here say Mac's are expensive, I think this is the wrong language to use [i am not going to degenerate this into a MAC vs PC argument], Mac's are a significant investment and that insures quality parts throughout from a single manufacturerr, Not aHodgee Podgebastardizedd mix of a bit of everything. If you are going to go PC insist on a custom build Unit/ laptop with all quality parts and be prepared to pay you will get a much better quality result. Also give Ubuntu a try.

Net books are what they are cheap net browsers and basic word processors. I have one at the moment a shitty Dell and an I Phone four. The net bookk does me ok for the moment to go on facebook, house price crash and green energy investors. I am going to get into photography at some point next year so going straight for a MAC Book Pro or IMAC, If I go IMAC I may also invest in a secondary laptop on Ubuntu.

What a load of balls.

1. 'Windows is designed to be open to viruses'. No software vendor would ever write software with the intention of it being 'open to viruses'. It would be commercial suicide. Windows is targeted because 95% of desktop machines run it.

2. 'Windows is deigned to line the pockets of anti-virus vendors' - hmmm, that will be why MS ship a completely free anti-virus package then.....?

3. 'If more people knew about Ubuntu.......' hah hah, the market share of desktop Linux is declining. The argument has moved on from 'will Linux replace MS on the desktop top' to 'what form factor will replace the PC'

4. 'viruses on Windows Phone' - news to me. Perhaps you could provide some evidence? Again, it would surprise me as the platform is not widely adopted.

The real reason netbook sales are down is competition from the iPad/Tablet form factor. You need to add up netbook sales and tablet sales to get a true idea of what is going on:

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/10/15/5296281-ipad-tablet-sales-will-cannibalize-sales-of-other-devices

[theblacksheeple]

Bulldust , MACs use PC parts now , even the processor.

You could build a PC using the same parts for 1/3 the price.

Macs are an incredible ripoff , everything by apple is , look at the price they want for crap like replacement ipod headphone 'buds' , crazy.

Apples headphones, Shipped with I Phone, I Pod's etc are shipped as toys, as the quality of them is so poor they cannot legally class them as headphones. The headphones are awful

See above re FSB and mother boards as standard from off the shelf laptops vs Mac. Custom building a PC With quality parts will be much cheaper than a buying an off the shelf mac, but then again if you build a custom MAC Pro [Tower Unit] from Apple for business you can usually get a stupidly high spec MAC for about 200 quid less than a 27 inch I MAC.

Quality parts cost money. If you spend 400 quid on an off the shelf machine expect a compromise of quality in some area's. It is that simple.

[JonoP]

One of the big things is virus's that remove all your contacts Have heard of several people who have had issues. I could sugar coat it or tell things as they are. So it is not a case of FUD. HTC, Android or I Phone 4 seem the current best of class for smart phone's.

HTC is a phone hardware manufacturer, whereas Android is an operating system.

HTC make phones that run Android and they make phones, like mine, that run Windows Phone.

If you want to comment on Technology issues you should at least learn the difference between HW and SW…….

And there is no virus.

[theblacksheeple]

HTC is a phone hardware manufacturer, whereas Android is an operating system.

HTC make phones that run Android and they make phones, like mine, that run Windows Phone.

If you want to comment on Technology issues you should at least learn the difference between HW and SW…….

And there is no virus.

Should have re read before i posted. I should have written, of the Android based phones the HTC or Samsung Galaxy are the best in class, I Phone 4 Makes up the best of the current batch of Smart Phones.

I am an I Phone user myself and considered my smart phone purchase long and hard. I was considering the Samsung Galaxy HD too. I have not yet found many issues with the I Phone, It can get online in about 2 seconds and can be happily surfing long before my netbook has even woken up. I can see why someone would have an I Pad as the screen real estate on a smart phone is not enough to browse fully.

[theblacksheeple]

Should have re read before i posted. I should have written, of the Android based phones the HTC or Samsung Galaxy are the best in class, I Phone 4 Makes up the best of the current batch of Smart Phones.

I am an I Phone user myself and considered my smart phone purchase long and hard. I was considering the Samsung Galaxy HD too. I have not yet found many issues with the I Phone, It can get online in about 2 seconds and can be happily surfing long before my netbook has even woken up. I can see why someone would have an I Pad as the screen real estate on a smart phone is not enough to browse fully.

EG Smart Phone AV from Norton too http://www.geckoandfly.com/7758/mobile-antivirus-security-apps-for-google-android-smartphone/

[theblacksheeple]

HTC is a phone hardware manufacturer, whereas Android is an operating system.

HTC make phones that run Android and they make phones, like mine, that run Windows Phone.

If you want to comment on Technology issues you should at least learn the difference between HW and SW…….

And there is no virus.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6535TS20100605

No virus?

[porca misèria]

This article would be akin to saying 'audio cassette sales are down due to the poor economy' or something like that.

Nothing to do with the economy , more just a technological fad like iomega ZIP disks that died off with improving technology and more competitive pricing for superior products (like CD Burners).

zip deserved to die because iomega was such a terrible company that thoroughly shafted its users.

I expect the reason there was only one company in that market was that the technology was so unreliable noone else had the brass neck to charge for it and then sucker you when you try and suggest they might have obligations under the warranty.

[porca misèria]

I think Apple's share price will hit a problem late in 2011 - it is going to be hard to get people to upgrade from the iphones they bought this year whilst cheaper competitors in the shape of Android and Windows phones catch up.

The ipad will have to drop in price ocnsiderably to get more buyers but by next Christmas there will be lots of competition in the field.

Apple are going to have to dig another new WOW gadget out of the hat in 2011 - doubt they can do it.

I wouldn't write apple off! It's true their stellar profits of late are down to successful fashion marketing, but they understand this well, and with it the need to move into ever new devices. Plus they understand about engineering: Wouldn't touch their highly-restrictive jailed devices (iphone/ipad), but I have a macbook for my laptop, and it's a whole lot better made (and has lasted much longer) than any laptop I've had before.

[porca misèria]

'Windows is designed to be open to viruses'. No software vendor would ever write software with the intention of it being 'open to viruses'. It would be commercial suicide. Windows is targeted because 95% of desktop machines run it.

Erm, look at a bit of history.

A full recipe for a windoze virus of the melissa or lovebug class was published in the MIME RFCs (Internet standards documents) back in 1992 and 1993. They followed the sendmail worm of 1989, and the awareness of security issues it brought to the 'net.

The recipe is part of an informational section, that describes the kind of problem likely to arise if you violate certain provisions of the MIME spec. Yet several years later, Microsoft went ahead and deliberately[1] violated those exact provisions, exposing their users to a generation of trouble.

'Windows is deigned to line the pockets of anti-virus vendors' - hmmm, that will be why MS ship a completely free anti-virus package then.....?

A more tenuous argument, but if we could rely on those MIME standards then a whole lot of complex antivirus work would reduce to very simple and easy rules, and no arms race!

[1] The apparent reason for this was to break web compatibility, holding back web development long enough to catch up with Netscape. I learned that the hard way, as an application I wrote in 1997, of a class that would be called "cloud" today, failed because it relied on internet standards that Microsoft had sabotaged.

[voidal]

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/04/26/netbook-market-dropped-due-to-economy-downturn/

Think about your own reasons for wanting/not wanting a netbook. All it takes is a few % of people to change their buying habits for a 'big decline', margins are tight

In my case, I would ...like.... a netbook, and there are no decent 'affordable' processors available, and nothing much has changed with netbooks for years, since intel are keeping the atom processor at a slow speed and using older manufacturing process technology..... Triple core Atom at 32nm?...I might go for that.

So, I 've just purchased a cheap Android tablet. Dual core ARM running Android 'should' be a lot faster than a nebook. I dont know whether I wil get on with it, but hey, the kids can still have it just like a video player. Kids can use it to watch videos, play music. Basic web browsing, and as it runs on top of linux, so I can even have fun writting some apps.

Its just like many people have said on this thread, changing market conditions are probably more significant for te decline.

Edited December 19, 2010 by voidal

[CrashedOutAndBurned]

I think Apple's share price will hit a problem late in 2011 - it is going to be hard to get people to upgrade from the iphones they bought this year whilst cheaper competitors in the shape of Android and Windows phones catch up.

The ipad will have to drop in price ocnsiderably to get more buyers but by next Christmas there will be lots of competition in the field.

Apple are going to have to dig another new WOW gadget out of the hat in 2011 - doubt they can do it.

Some Mac users are alarmed at Apple putting all their eggs in the fickle consumer-tat sapce. They've cancelled the Xserve and while a couple of years ago they seemed to be gunning for Avid and Protools with Final Cut and Logic, this seems to have stalled with those that have invested in Final Cut worried at the lack of a road map and going back to Avid and Media Composer. They no longer bother with a range of screens for the Mac Pro line aside from one big glossy screen. The next Mac OS X brings all the innovations from the iPad(!).

I think Jobs is getting a bit like a football manager that won some big trophies but whose weaknesses are now starting to undermine his future successes. Remember while the iPod and iTunes and the iPad have been huge hits, Jobs was producing out plenty of turkeys before - the massively overpriced G4 Cube and the 'bog seat' iBook just two. When Apple turned the iBook into a conventional laptop sales took off. Jobs just doesn't see that sometimes simply giving user what they want is no crime.

They set up a pretty good ebook system for the iPad BUT the books are not compatible with any eInk readers out there due to the DRM, so you're stuck reading on the iPad, which is awful as an ereader. In fact, look at anyone out and about with an iPad and they seem to be arsing about with it, listlessly surfing, playing daft games. See someone with a Kindle and they're engrossed.

Edited December 19, 2010 by CrashedOutAndBurned