Unit shipments of low-cost small-form factor notebooks, or Netbooks, will grow substantially over the next year, according to new research.
Market Intelligence Center (MIC) said in a release on its Web site 18.3 million low-cost mini-notebooks will be shipped globally next year, a 128-percent jump over the 8.02 million forecast for 2008.
Chris Wei, MIC's senior industry analyst, noted in the release, the Asus Eee PC dominated the low-cost sub-notebook market during the first six months of the year. Acer, which launched the Acer Aspire One in June, also displayed "an aggressive attitude" in wanting to develop the market.
"In the second half of 2008, price competition is expected to emerge in the market and product specifications could be improved by vendors in order to better compete in the market," said Wei.
The Netbook market will be further stimulated, said Taiwan-based MIC, as the top three global notebook PC vendors--Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Acer--roll out products in the next few months. The research institute expects these vendors to focus on near 9-inch models.
According to IDC, shipments of low-cost sub-notebooks to the Asia-Pacific region reached 150,000 during the first quarter of the year, up from 112,000 the quarter before. The analyst, which labels such devices as ultra low-cost PCs, said the strong momentum for the market will continue through 2008.
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