Netbooks (small form-factor, lower-priced, less powerful laptops) took a beating in the second quarter.
When the folks at market researcher ABI Research tallied the numbers, they found media tablet shipments in the second quarter reached 13.6 million units, compared to just 7.3 million for netbooks.
In Q1, netbooks were ahead with 8.4 million units compared to 6.4 million for media tablets.
ABI Research’s group director for mobile devices Jeff Orr says:
This is a trend that we do not expect will reverse. As they are different segments, this is not a direct replacement behavior, but a changing of leadership for the most interesting device type.
Apple’s iPad 2 was, of course, the key driver for media tablet interest among consumers.
Some 68% of the media tablet shipments in 2Q11 were iPads.
According to Orr, media tablets are perceived to be easy to use, compared to the keyboard and mouse interface of a netbook. Babyboomers and older people who have avoided PCs because they are difficult to use see in media tablets an opportunity to re-engage with Internet access.
In 2011, 32 million netbooks and 60 million media tablets are expected to ship worldwide.
Netbooks still hold interest in under-served countries where PC penetration in homes are low and broadband service is not widely available.
ABI Research sees media tablet catering primarily to the early-adopter consumers of U.S., Western Europe, Japan and South Korea.
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“Netbooks still hold interest in under-served countries where PC penetration in homes are low and broadband service is not widely available.”
True, Netbooks are a boon to the people in under-served countries and a bane to those in well developed nations, where the name “iPad” is synonymous with “Tablet”, “Computing”, and “Gaming”.
Thankfully, India has not yet given into the the iPad craze. Here, a 16GB iPad costs around 24500 (> or < than 500$ ) almost equivalent to the lowest configuration laptop given by Dell, HP, or IBM.
When it comes to viewing Media files, checking email, playing games, and tweeting, iPad is way superior. But for basic office use, Laptops beat iPads or any other Tablets, anyday.
While touchscreen is a great feature, people who need to type a lot of mails, create lots of documentation, or blog will not find iPad or tablets attractive. In fact, people who use tablet PC for computing will be more prone to RSI (Repetitive Stress Injuries). Apple users conveniently forget this point.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You never know. In a few quarters, this Tablet craze here might start to wane and completely disappear in a few years!
Technology is becoming like fashion!
Si Wrote: “You never know. In a few quarters, this Tablet craze here might start to wane and completely disappear in a few years!
Technology is becoming like fashion!”
I have no idea about how people consider a new technology as a luxury, then accept it as more of a necessary hindrance, then make it a necessity. While some technology such as mobile phones have proved to be more than useful, some have become more of a fashion statement like “I got an Apple product, did you get yours” types.
While I fully appreciate the wonders of technology, I completely believe that as responsible citizens, we should only pay for products for which we have use, rather than buying products and trying to find ways to use them.
If Technology is like Fashion, we are gonna pay a heavy price in the future. Technology should make our lives better, not make us dumb and prone to injuries like RSIs and Carpel Tunnel Syndrome.
Please read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_tunnel_syndrome
It is our duty to warn youngsters about the risks of overusing technology
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: I completely believe that as responsible citizens, we should only pay for products for which we have use, rather than buying products and trying to find ways to use them.
True. But since 99.99% of humans are devils that won’t happen.
If you’re talking necessities, a tablet is a completely unnecessary thing as are a lot of other so-called ‘necessities’ of life.