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Almost 80 Percent See Netbooks as Secondary PCs

January 30th, 2009 by Joanna Stern  

laptopfightAccording to ABI research only 11 percent of consumers in the United States would use a netbook as their primary computer. That leaves a massive 79 percent that see netbooks as a complementary, secondary device to a laptop or desktop. (By the way, what we really need is some data on the amount of the U.S. population that even knows what a netbook is!)

The results of ABI’s research scream “Duuuh” to us, but we assume it’s reassuring that many people won’t tolerate a 10-inch screen for too long and require a bit more computing power for other tasks.

Will netbooks impact the sales of notebooks in light of this data? We know already that  $200 to $400 netbooks are breaking business models, especially for Intel and Microsoft, but if end users consider them to be secondary devices to compliment laptops or desktops then they won’t eat at the margins right? Not necessarily in today’s economy.

The netbook market has exploded for a number of reasons in the past few months, but very close to the top of the list is savings. Lots of people may be in search of a new laptop, especially one that is the right size and weight for traveling and on-the-go computing, but they just might not have had the budget for a thin and light Centrino 2 based laptop this holiday season (where netbooks saw more than an 100 percent market growth), so they went with the cheaper netbook option.

The truth is it is hard to say why any individual makes a purchase decision. You tell us. Have you bought a netbook instead of a mainstream laptop to save money?
 Comments (4 Responses) 

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4 Responses to “Almost 80 Percent See Netbooks as Secondary PCs”

  1. Arthur Says:
    January 30th, 2009 at 9:49 am

    Well it was the case for me that my AAO used to be my secondary computer. I was sort of disappointed with the size of the screen and the overall feel of it, thus making me move to my old HP laptop. Now 5 months after purchasing it, I’m leaning towards buying a LCD monitor and a mouse/keyboard pack so that I could hook up my AAO to the whole thing, as I would rather be on my netbook than my actual laptop…

    But it’s understandable that under powered computer can be seen as secondary PCs IMHO…

  2. JonGl Says:
    January 30th, 2009 at 10:36 am

    In my case, yes, and no….

    My old Mac PowerBook 2k model (aka Pismo) was just too anemic and worn out. Yet buying a new Mac in the country where I am living is too cost prohibitive. Besides that, I really need an untracompact computer for my needs.A “netbook” fit my needs perfectly. My wife bought herself an eeePC 701, and I realized that 7″ was a bit small for me, but a 10″ would do nicely. I mocked up a Wind, based on its published dimensions, and ended up buying one. It was supposed to be just for daily needs, but once I learned I could add Leopard, I bought it, and slapped it on. Now, my poor Pismo sits there, acting as my data backup device, and music server–and occasional photo processor and print server.

    So. I would say that my Wind is my primary computer, but not my only. ;-) At least for now. Next Stateside, I will have to decide on something more robust. Probably a MB Pro. But I will, so long as I am physically able, continue to use these tiny guys as my beaters and get-arounds.

    -Jon

  3. Janus Says:
    January 30th, 2009 at 5:46 pm

    I don’t do much in the way of processor intensive computing, so I’d be happy to use a netbook as a modern-day successor to the PowerBook Duo…hooked up to a larger display and keyboard, running Windows XP (or 7…or Snow Leopard) it would be plenty for my needs

  4. glog Says:
    January 30th, 2009 at 5:53 pm

    Something doesn’t add up. 11 + 79 = 90.

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