Twice as Many Netbooks Are On The Way

By Marcus Yam
published

Lots more netbooks on the way.

Think that netbooks are popular now? Research firm DisplaySearch projects that netbook shipments will double this year.

2008 saw 16.4 million netbooks shipped worldwide, and that number is expected to balloon to 32.7 million in 2009.

Shipments of regular notebooks, however, are expected stay flat from 2008 to 2009. DisplaySearch says that the growth in netbook popularity is just one reason for the halted demand. Other reasons include the economic downturn and enterprise customers who aren't buying notebooks due to Windows Vista being preloaded on new machines.

The research firm does think that the launch of Windows 7, coupled with some economic optimism, could make the notebook segment bounce back.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • alvine
    i love my aspire one netbook with win7 on it. netbooks are great on the go i use my desktop for gaming but other than that i cant stop using my netbook (: they are great
    Reply
  • jarnail24
    They're just to underpowered. Give me a netbook with that new culv processor and integrated graphics other than intel for under $600 I'll buy one today.
    Reply
  • Kill@dor
    Its only obvious because the smaller they are, the easier to handle/manage. They save a lot more power than the larger notebooks... I still prefer the notebooks by far because i can customize one a lot better than a smaller netbook. Everything that shrinks this day and age isn't always better in my opinion.
    Reply
  • makotech222
    I agree, as an enthusiast, these netbooks just dont have enough power to use comfortably. I love my lenovo x200tablet though, its extremely thin and light and has some good computing power. Too bad it has integrated graphics :P
    Reply
  • Wayoffbase
    I just have an issue with all the people that bought netbooks not understanding what they were, and being unhappy with the performance. It's bad for the industry in the long term.
    Reply
  • I want a netbook.
    Why?
    Because I, as a student, have realized that nothing I could possibly need to do while mobile requires any sort of processing or graphics power.
    Web - Firefox
    Word processing - Open Office
    Image Editing - Gimp

    I would not want to use Linux on my main PC but it would work great for what little I would do mobile.
    Size - smaller the better
    If it can run flash games, all the better

    Whats the point of having a huge gaming laptop that has less power than a desktop of equal price while being too big to carry easily?
    Also, the only reason I could understand buying a NOTEbook is if you can't stand the small keyboard & screen.

    Most (average) people don't realize that a netbook is plenty sufficient for their daily needs (as far as power, not screen size)

    /end rant
    Reply
  • Wayoffbase
    CK159I want a netbook.Why?Because I, as a student, have realized that nothing I could possibly need to do while mobile requires any sort of processing or graphics power.Web - FirefoxWord processing - Open OfficeImage Editing - GimpI would not want to use Linux on my main PC but it would work great for what little I would do mobile.Size - smaller the betterIf it can run flash games, all the betterWhats the point of having a huge gaming laptop that has less power than a desktop of equal price while being too big to carry easily?Also, the only reason I could understand buying a NOTEbook is if you can't stand the small keyboard & screen.Most (average) people don't realize that a netbook is plenty sufficient for their daily needs (as far as power, not screen size)/end rantI could be wrong, but I'm not sure GIMP would run well on a netbook. My experience with it is pretty limited, but you can run it on your windows desktop anyway.
    Also, you dont have to have a huge gaming laptop. You can get a small, lightweight notebook that is actually running something faster than a pentiumIII for less than some of these fancier netbooks.
    Reply
  • Trauma
    I dont think alot of people realize how much you can customize a netbook these days. Alot of what people are saying held true for the first generation but some of the newer ones can be over/underclocked and you can swap out for ssd drives in them. I love my eee pc. 1008ha. It does all I need it to as far as my mobility needs are concerned.

    BTW, Overclocked I dont personaly use but I do underclock it to extend the life of the battery even further than it already lasts. I can go all day and not worry about losing my charge.
    Reply
  • freak77power
    I can't find a single reason to own netbook. If you need your netbook on daily basis everywhere you go, your life is sad and pathetic.

    Reply
  • bigalfantasy2004
    I love my netbook, and I use it practically daily. It essentially has replaced my notebook. Now if the software and media companies would get on board with releasing movies and programs on SD or flash drives instead of CDs/DVDs then there would be no drawbacks for the average user.
    Reply