14 DAY TRIAL // The past few years brought up big changes on notebook market. First of all, the offer is bigger and more attractive than ever, second because users are showing more and more interest in notebooks rather than in desktops. While some years ago more than 80% of the notebook shipments were for enterprises, nowadays the percentage has risen in favor of the consumers.
The notebook market splits almost equally between enterprises and consumers, this being in favor of those manufacturers who have a strong retail presence. According to analysts, the preference for notebooks instead of desktops is helping companies like Hewlett-Packard or Acer to boost market share. Retailers have much to gain from this too, as notebooks are smaller than desktops and deliver a better profit. There is much to gain in the selling of notebook accessories or components, such as memory and retailers too prefer selling notebooks.
The prices for notebooks have been falling a lot lately and this attracts even more buyers. John Jacobs, director of notebook research at DisplaySearch, said lately that the prices for notebooks will continue to fall, although a notebook with enough performance, storage and graphics can be bought for about $999. This will attract more and more consumers, so the notebook shipments are expected to grow even more.
In the fourth quarter of 2007, notebook shipments grew 41 percent, to a total of 33 million. The first place on the market share is taken by HP, with a growth of 42% and a total of 6.6 million units. The company managed to outplace Acer and Dell, according to DisplaySearch, and has 20.1 percent market share. With a 32 percent growth, 5.25 million units shipped and 15.9 percent market share, Acer is placed second, followed by Dell on the third with 4.64 million units, 14 percent market share and 32 percent growth.
Dell CEO Michael Dell says that notebooks sales are six times desktop sales for the company. The shipments experienced a certain boost due to the strategy implemented last year, and Dell is selling PCs in about 10,000 retail stores. Yet, Dell rules only online notebook sales, but HP and Acer were pushed ahead by the strength of retail sales. Also, Dell focused more on enterprises and left aside retail sales, but the company announced it was back on retailers too. Lately, Dell signed up European retailers and this may represent another boost on market share for the company.
Mobility represents an attraction that has become affordable for many. The possibility of customization which was until a few months ago available for desktops only is another strong point of attraction. This makes online sales go down, as the buyer is more and more into touching and feeling. It's easier to choose a notebook that represents you in a retail store than over the Internet. Especially now, when notebooks do start to compete with desktops in what storage, graphics or performance means. While desktops are more on the power, notebooks come close to power, but are more touching with style and customizations.