Short term expectations for the netbook segment

Although there were many saying the netbook segment has already reached its peak and it starts to become over-saturated, things seem to be a little different in reality. Thanks to their great prices, these devices started to enter emerging and huge markets, like China, India and Latin America. Thus, I believe we’ll see a great increase in volumes sold on this segment in the next year.

A couple of recent studies seem to agree with me too.

The first one says that netbook displays production will double this year, when compared to 2008. According to Tom’s Hardware ,  16 million netbooks were shipped worldwide last year, and this number will pass 32 millions in 2009.

Also, a market research from iSuppli shows that the 3G netbooks segment is getting huge, as it will probably grow with 70% this year, to more than 17 millions netbooks with 3G capabilities being shipped this year. This number seems quite big though, especially when compared to the one above, as it says that more then half of all the netbooks shipped in 2009 have 3G. And i kind of doubt that. But still.

Also, with new operating systems on the horizon, like the Windows 7 and Google Chrome and a new standard reaching its way into mainstream (the 12″ netbooks), this segment seem to be just on the right path. Don’t you think?

Tags: future