It's a secret to no one that netbooks have taken the world of portable computing by storm, even making a dent in the sales of fully fledged laptops, mainly due to their lower price tag, which makes them affordable to a wider range of consumers. It's because of their success that almost every player in the industry is expected to launch a netbook of its own, or at least a product that is somehow related to these systems.

As recent financial figures emerge, the success rate of these Internet-capable devices is really shaping up for everyone to see. As a matter of fact, thanks to these numbers, Apple, which, up until now, has remained loyal to its current product lineup and has excluded the possibility of releasing a product that will compete with all those netbooks on the market, was also rumored to be considering the release of such a product. 

 

Ever since ASUS has released its first netbook in 2007, major PC makers like Acer, HP or Toshiba have taken a growing interest in this market, which has been demonstrated by the release of their own such devices. Currently, the most popular netbooks on the market include products such as the Acer Aspire One, ASUS Eee PC, MSI Wind and models from Samsung, HP and Toshiba.

 

The latest smartphone sales numbers released by research firm Gartner and DisplaySearch's netbook sales numbers seem to indicate that in Q3 2008, alone, a whopping 5.6 million netbooks were sold. The number is more impressing when compared to Apple's iPhone sales, which recorded a 4.7 million figure, in the same period. For many, comparing an iPhone with a netbook would be like comparing apples with oranges, but the truth is that both devices are capable of roughly the same functionalities, which ultimately has led to a series of rumors according to which the Cupertino, California PC maker was actually considering releasing its own netbook-like device.

 

However, if you were to take into consideration Apple's Steve Jobs' recent statements, the company has no intention of releasing such a product, at least not in the near future. In addition, when talking about netbooks, Steve Jobs said, “There's, as best as we can tell, not a lot of them getting sold.” Sure, if you put together the released financial results and Steve Jobs' statements, you will obviously see why Apple is still expected to unveil a netbook competitor of its own.