14 DAY TRIAL // Netbooks have made quite an entrance on the market this year, marking a great success in many regions of the globe and catching the eye of users, chip makers, PC vendors and industry watchers alike. As for processors, Intel is the big player in the netbook industry segment, as many of you already know, while its competitor Advanced Micro Devices has announced that, for the time being, it will not focus on these low-power machines. According to the latest reports, it seems that Intel is also reevaluating the netbook segment on the assumption that netbooks are not the great thing they were initially considered.
“We originally thought netbooks would be for emerging markets and younger kids, and there is some of that. It turns out the bulk of the netbooks sold today are Western Europe, North America, and for people who just want to grab and go with a notebook,” said Stu Pann, vice president of Sales and Marketing Group at Intel, at a recent Raymond James IT Supply Chain Conference. “We view the Netbook as mostly incremental to our total available market.”
“If you've ever used a netbook and used a 10-inch screen size - it's fine for an hour. It's not something you're going to use day in and day out,” goes the statement that can be considered the most suggestive one. While many agree on this, there are also those who consider netbooks a great solution for users seeking high mobility in an ultra light design. Of course, that would be a solution for more than just an hour.
AMD's vision regarding the market is somehow different, yet its upcoming Huron and Conesus CPUs (one of which is due out early next year) might be used by computer vendors in systems similar to netbooks. The Sunnyvale chip manufacturer is aiming rather at ultra-thin mobile machines greatly resembling Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air (and even going for 14-inch designs), the difference being made by the lower cost of these laptops.
Earlier this month, AMD Chief Executive Dirk Meyer said that “we're ignoring the Netbook phenomenon - just thinking about PC form factors above that form factor.” At the same time, Bahr Mahony, director of notebook product marketing at AMD, stated that there were “a fair number of people” rather unsatisfied with their experience with netbooks.
According to Mahony, the lack of satisfaction provided by netbooks “has been exhibited by the high return rates that have been seen on these mini notebooks” in Europe. For those not in the know, in AMD's perspective, netbooks and mini notebooks are one and the same thing. According to the chip maker, the screen size of netbooks is too small, while the performance tends to be rather disappointing.
Some industry watchers believe netbooks will see an even greater market penetration in the future, yet things seem uncertain at this point. Next year will be a crucial one for these little machines, and will show either that they are valuable products or only a marketing move, as was the case with the UMPC (ultramobile personal computer) before them.