Netbooks: An Endangered Species?
May 27, 2010 - By Dieter Schweiss
Social media and technology website Mashable recently published an article that postulated the question: Is the iPad Killing Netbooks? Based on data from the Retrevo website, it certainly seems like netbooks may become an endangered species; however, it looks like the iPad isn’t the only predator of netbooks on the portable computing savanna.
According to Retrevo’s data, when they polled consumers who were deciding between a netbook and a laptop for their next computer purchase, respondents voted overwhelmingly in favor of laptops by a margin of 30% over netbooks. The majority of people who were interested in netbooks cited portability as the primary factor for wanting to purchase a netbook in the first place; price and battery life were secondary factors. While netbooks are indeed highly portable, their lack of a DVD drive makes them less attractive for business, entertainment, and even gaming purposes than low-end laptops. Also, many laptops are just as small and portable as their netbook cousins without any loss in features, and they are not much more expensive these days.
On the tablet side of things, there is no doubt that the iPad excels when it comes to portability, and the general “wow factor” of the iPad hasn’t entirely faded yet. As Mashable and Retrevo both noted, 30% of people who would have otherwise purchased a netbook, purchased iPads instead. In a similar poll of would-be netbook purchasers, 78% of respondents were now more interested in purchasing iPads than netbooks. Ouch.
If netbooks are the gazelles of the gadget savanna, then perhaps laptops are the water buffalo (since both species are vegetarian animals with hooves). In that case, iPads might be the hyenas (since they’re too small to be the lions). Whether by taking up space at the watering hole, or by whittling away at the netbook numbers in general, both competitors are poised to make life very difficult for the netbook gazelles.
Still Hope for Netbooks
However, as bleak as the future of the netbook may appear to some people, one distinct advantage that netbooks have over Apple’s impressive array of products is their ability to support Flash. Along with their built-in Wi-Fi support, this allows them to stream video, such as what one might find on sites such as Netflix and Hulu. Apple’s iPod Touches, iPhones, and iPads are limited in their the ability to provide the same sort of flexibility that netbooks (and laptops) allow by default.
Some other factors that were not mentioned in the Retrevo data, but which would figure into most computer purchases, would be: intended use of the netbook, compatibility with existing software owned by the purchaser, and familiarity of the platform.
Many netbook owners use them in a business setting, where their company may supply them with a desktop, and a netbook allows them to connect to that desktop remotely while they are in meetings. On the flip-side, they may want a laptop-like gadget that allows them to work or entertain themselves while traveling.
Incompatibility with existing software could be a deal breaker for some purchasers. Why purchase a gadget, like the iPad, that won’t let you share files with your existing desktop or laptop? It would make more sense to purchase something that can share files and even applications, as needed.
As previously mentioned, netbooks and laptops are cousins–they even share the same operating systems (for PCs)–but iPads are a whole different species by comparison. As an iPod Touch owner, this journalist knows that the learning curve for Apple’s portable gadgets is not steep; however, for some purchasers, even this small hurdle may be somewhat off-putting.
Food for Thought
While the future of the netbooks market isn’t written in stone, it seems like the line that separates netbooks from laptops may be blurring. However, as long as a price gap remains between the two, netbooks should remain a viable option for portability-conscious consumers. Whether or not iPads will continue to eat into the netbook market share remains to be seen. As far as this journalist is concerned, there will continue to be room for both netbooks and iPads in this marketplace for some time to come.
Great article! I own a netbook and just as you point out, the main reason for choosing the model I did were portability and battery life. I personally would not replace my netbook with an iPad because besides e-mail and web surfing, I use my netbook for word processing, spreadsheets, and other programs that require data entry. The ability to touch type on a keyboard is very important to me. I understand that the iPad has a “keyboard” but it doesn’t seem to me that you can truly touch type on an electronic pad. Both devises have their place.
Thank you very much for your comment, Terry! I like being able to type on a physical keyboard, too, and I see myself more likely to go with a netbook than an iPad because of the software issues and what I would plan to do with it (e.g., word processing, gaming, web surfing). In fact, I would be less likely to replace a laptop or netbook with an iPad, and more likely to replace my iPod Touch with an iPad; however, then I would be sacrificing portability. As I hinted at in the article, I see the iPad less as competition for netbooks and more as a new gadget to add to my stable of devices. Thanks again!