Apple's iPad nabs Netbook market share
While DisplaySearch said that the low price of Netbooks have made them an attractive alternative to standard laptops, the iPad and other tablets should continue to make inroads into this market segment that has been based on more traditional office suite applications."With the emergence of the iPad and other slates, this segment of the market is transitioning from devices that, though smaller and less expensive, followed typical PC market trends that are built upon Office suite applications and content creation to devices that provide the ability to create content (and) is more focused on an a la carte method for selecting the software capabilities (apps) of the device andcontent consumption." The firm went so far to say that the first quarter of 2010 may be the beginning of the end to the Netbook."The last quarter of 2007 heralded the birth of the mini-note PC (netbook). Q1'10 signaled the birth of the slate PC, and possibly by extension, the beginning of the end of the mini-note PC (netbook)." But the end, if it indeed comes, is not here yet.Netbooks continued to sell well in Latin America and Asia-Pacific."The positive Y/Y (year-to-year) revenue growth in Q1'10 was a result of very strong mini-note PC/slate growth in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific, as well as continued growth in China and North America," DisplaySearch said.And notebook sales overall are robust.Revenue for the total notebook PC market grew to $31.1 billion, the largest single quarter since the third quarter of 2008."Shipments of portable class notebook PCs surged Y/Y in Asia-Pacific, China, and Latin America, easily passing average market growth rates for the segment. Shipments of desktop replacement class notebook PCs surged Y/Y in Europe/Middle East/Africa and Japan."
