Netbooks penetrate 20% of NB PC market in Q1

About six million netbooks (mini-note PCs) were shipped in the first quarter, raising their penetration in the notebook PC market close to 20%, according to preliminary data from DisplaySearch, a display market researcher and consultant.

Taiwan-based Acer Inc. was the No. 1 player in the netbook market with a market share of 30.5%, delivering twice as many netbooks as another Taiwanese player and also the innovator of such product, Asustek Computer Inc. (Asus). HP continued its dominance of the notebook PC category, growing share to 24.1%, with more than 7.3 million units shipped in the first quarter.

According to DisplaySearch, penetration rate of netbooks (in overall notebook PC) was the highest in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America regions, and the lowest in China, Japan and North America. About 45% of all netbooks shipped in the quarter went into EMEA, compared to less than 26% in North America. By contrast, EMEA accounted for 38% of the total notebook market, while North America was less than 30%.

The research firm pointed out that the differences in share between EMEA and North America may be a result of telecom subsidy plans in Europe.

For the overall notebook PC industry, the No. 2 Acer passed No. 3 Dell, capturing an 18.8% share of the market in the first quarter. However, among the top-five notebook PC brands, Acer had the highest percentage of netbooks (31.6%) to its total PC shipped, compared to HP, Dell, Toshiba and Lenovo, all of whom shipped less than 10% of their volume as netbooks.

John Jacobs, director of notebook market research at DisplaySearch, said: "it is clear at the moment that mini-notes play a vital role in the total PC market. Without the additional volume provided by these products, shipment volumes for the notebook PC market would have been down 19% Y/Y, instead of only falling 3%."

Source & Copyright: CENS