Office Pro Plus 2010 Key Netbook Sales Sag as the

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Netbook Revenue Sag since the iPad Arrives The revenue development in the mini-laptops has fallen sharply as purchasers eye a lot more able transportable personal computers
By
Cliff Edwards

Apple's (AAPL) iPad is assisting neat the computer industry's netbook fever. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs has produced no top secret of his disdain for that well-liked, cheap mini-notebooks. "Netbooks aren't better than anything. They're just cheap laptops," Employment said at the Jan. 27 launch in the iPad tablet laptop or computer in San Francisco.

PC makers are starting to worry that consumers agree. The revenue growth of netbooks, priced from $200 to $500 and resembling shrunk-down laptops, slowed markedly in the first quarter,Microsoft Office 2007 Key, according to market researcher IDC.

Netbook shipments to retailers from January through March are expected to grow 33.6% compared with a year ago, to 4.8 million units, IDC says. That's significantly slower growth than in the first quarter of 2009, when netbook revenue leapt 872%, to 3.6 million units. "Everyone tried to make these mini-notebooks out to be a different category, or different type of device," says IDC analyst Richard Shim. "In fact, people think of them as just another type of PC."

Falling product sales aren't the only problem dogging netbooks. There's evidence that demand for netbook components is declining. The Web site DigiTimes reported on Mar. 30 that makers from the liquid-crystal-display panels used in netbooks are cutting production because of declining orders. PC makers including Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL), and Acer declined to comment on whether inventories of unsold netbooks are on the rise.
Seeking the Next Big Thing
Susie Ramirez, a spokeswoman for Intel,Office Pro Plus 2010 Key, which makes the Atom chip used in most netbooks, declined to say whether PC makers are ordering fewer of the chips. "Things change quarter to quarter, but in the end we're looking at hundreds of millions of netbooks that will be sold over time,Cheap Windows 7," she says.

Some PC makers are starting to look past the category and divine what will next capture consumers' attention in the portable laptop or computer market. Michael Abary, senior vice-president of Sony's (SNE) Information Products Technology Div.,Office 2010 Product Key, which makes Vaio-branded desktops,Office 2010 Download, laptops, and netbooks, says the mini-laptops are "losing [their] novelty. Everyone is trying to figure out what's next, now that we realize [sales are] not going to continue to grow at an astronomical rate."

Sales of netbooks, which became well-liked among American consumers in 2008, exploded as recession-battered shoppers opted for that cheap but less able laptops. When many people got them home, they were disappointed by flimsy keyboards, unfamiliar operating systems, and a lack of programs that could be run on the machines.