14 DAY TRIAL // After the success of netbook last year, market analysts and PC makers alike thought that this market would grow at a rapid pace over the course of this year and the next, but it seems that tablets are already turning into a factor likely to negatively affect netbook sales.
Netbooks managed to score heavy sales last year, and will probably do well enough this year as well, because of their low prices.
CPU and GPU makers also unleashed more advanced entry-level hardware that improved the feature sets of netbooks, giving even those that already own such a device a reason to buy a new one.
On the other hand, the so-called tablet market, which was, for some time, represented by Apple's iPad, proved to be quite formidable.
According to ABI Research, tablets are still a way off from being considered a “mass market” product, since they have yet to pass the 40-50 million sales threshold.
Still, estimates point towards a figure of 11 million for the whole year of 2010, which is quite an achievement considering that media slates only actually kicked off this year.
On the other hand, netbooks are expected to score 43 million sales, less than what was predicted at the start of the year.
"43 million netbook shipments are good growth, just not the meteoric pace of the past couple of years. RIM’s new PlayBook tablet may be more palatable to IT managers because at this point it’s not a standalone device: it needs to be paired with a BlackBerry," said Jeff Orr, a principal analyst with ABI Research.
All in all, while still a distance from becoming a mass market product, tablets seem to be turning into something that might negatively affect netbook shipments.
“Apple has sold a few million iPads in its first quarter, which is great for creating a new market. But early adoption of media tablets is not outpacing netbooks. The iPad average selling price above $650 isn’t driving mass adoption. Competition, especially on price, is needed," Mr. Orr stated