14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that the changes that have occurred on the PC market in 2010 will have arguably adverse effects on the market share of the various types of PCs in 2011, with ASUS supposedly likely to see its netbook sales and share decrease.
Many more or less unexpected things happened this year on the mobile PC market, particularly when it comes to the entry-level.
Some makers of netbooks and market analysts were quite optimistic at the start of 2010, certain that sales would only keep growing for years.
Later, it was seen that the segment was actually getting saturated. Then, Apple launched the iPad and set the grounds for the tablet market.
Analysts already think that slates will start to steal netbook market share with all due haste, though the latter aren't expected to go away completely.
Still, some decrease in sales is expected, and ASUS itself will not manage to keep boosting its netbook shipments after 2011, or so say reports.
In 2008 and 2009, ASUS shipped 5.8 million and 6.8 million, respectively, while the 2010 total is expected to revolve around 6 million.
Also, this year, netbooks are expected to account for 50% of total laptop sales, more than the 45% during each of the previous two years.
Starting with the year after 2011, however, the numbers will decline, to 4-4.5 million units, after which they will keep falling as tablets rise.
This figure will correspond to 25% of the total, though these are, of course, just estimates form so-called 'industry sources' that Digitmes has cited.
In related news, Acer is also expected to see its netbook shipments start to fall next year, probably under the 18.1% it secured during the third quarter of 2010.
Of course, whether or not tablets genuinely prove to be so dangerous to netbooks is still something that remains to be seen.