Somewhere in the shadowy, uncharted realm that lies between the iPhone and the laptop, a new device category is emerging. We’re talking, of course, about netbooks and ultra-mobile devices. While these small Web-oriented gadgets are garnering a lot of attention as the Next Big Thing, carriers should note that there’s a long way to go before the business model is clarified.
Netbooks are lightweight, ultra-portable computing devices priced under $400; they don’t have full graphics functionality or the horsepower of a laptop, but are optimized for Internet access and core computing functions. They are positioned to appeal to road warriors and tech-savvy consumers alike, considering they’re connected devices optimized to quench a growing thirst for anytime access to cloud-based applications via high-speed mobile networks. And they’re expected to drive the consumption of mobile data plans in the same way smartphones have driven it.
“The ideal netbook or entry laptop should be inexpensive, lightweight, have long battery life adequate for e-mail and the Internet, contain integrated Wi-Fi and have reasonable graphics and multimedia,” said Eric Broockman, founder and CEO of fabless semi-conductor company Alereon. “This wouldn’t be the desktop machine you’d use for doing heavy-duty photo editing or playing the very latest edition of World of Warcraft — but it would be an awesome, everyday, around-the-house machine, as well as more than adequate for the vast majority of enterprise office professionals. It gets us just that much closer to life without wires.”
Accordingly, some analysts are expecting netbook sales to double this year: about 18 million sub-notebooks worldwide were sold in 2008, and at least another 36-38 million will be sold worldwide in 2009, says research firm Creative Strategies Inc.. Steve King, a partner at Emergent Research, added: “The form factor has become so popular that 5.6 million netbooks were sold in the third quarter of 2008. To put that number in perspective, Apple sold 4.7 million iPhones during that period.”
Netbook pricing — which is comparable to that of high-end smartphones — makes these devices an attractive alternative to laptops, while the additional productivity makes them a threat to handsets. “Netbooks are cheap, yet meet the Web surfing, e-mail and word processing needs of many users,” King said. “And with Web-based software and storage becoming more common, many users simply don’t need higher end notebook PCs. Mobile computing is a trend that will continue to grow during the recession. The productivity gains and ROI associated with mobile computing are simply too strong.”
