Netbook Industry Shutting Down After Being Squeezed by iPad and MacBook Air

[MacRumors]

As noted by The Guardian earlier this week, the netbook industry will be winding down in the first quarter of 2013, as major players Asus and Acer will be shutting down production of the tiny notebooks.

Actually, the number sold in 2013 will be very much closer to zero than to 139m. The Taiwanese tech site Digitimes points out that Asus, which kicked off the modern netbook category with its Eee PC in 2007, has announced that it won't make its Eee PC product after today, and that Acer doesn't plan to make any more; which means that "the netbook market will officially end after the two vendors finish digesting their remaining inventories."

Asustek and Acer were the only two companies still making netbooks, with everyone else who had made them (including Samsung, HP and Dell) having shifted to tablets.

The report points to four factors that likely contributed to the demise of the netbook: the overall PC market including the rise of more powerful ultrabooks, the global economy, poor profit margins on netbooks, and the iPad leading a charge of tablets to the market.

Going a bit further, Slate argues that Apple is the primary culprit in the demise of the netbook, with the MacBook Air and iPad squeezing netbooks from both sides and leading to a transformation in personal computing.

Apple alone stood against the tide of netbooks. Apple's brilliant insight was that despite netbooks' popularity, nobody really wanted a netbook per se. Instead, Apple realized that people who were buying netbooks were looking for one of two things--they wanted full-fledged laptops that were very portable, or they wanted cheap machines that allowed them to easily surf the Web, use email and do other light computing tasks. Rather than building a single netbook that fit both these audiences poorly, Apple built two machines that were, each in its own way, much better than any netbook ever sold.

Slate's Farhad Manjoo goes on to note that Apple simply couldn't compete in the netbook market given the pricing model, and it had no interest in building an inferior product in an attempt to do so. Steve Jobs himself said at the iPad's introduction in 2010 that netbooks were simply a non-starter for Apple.

If there's going to be a third category of device it is going to have to be better at doing these types of tasks than a laptop or a smartphone; otherwise it has no reason for being. Now, some people have thought 'that's a netbook!' The problem is that netbooks aren't better at anything. They're slow, they have low-quality displays, and they run clunky old PC software. So they're not better than a laptop at anything, they're just cheaper. They are just cheap laptops. And we don't think that they're a third category of device.

With the MacBook Air and iPad emerging as Apple's alternatives the entire computer industry was spurred to follow its lead, ultimately squeezing netbooks out of existence.

Article Link: Netbook Industry Shutting Down After Being Squeezed by iPad and MacBook Air

[levitynyc]

Remember when analysts kept wanting Apple to make a Netbook and Steve Jobs was like "We don't know how to make one that's not a piece of junk."

[twiggy0]

Steve called it.

[sshambles]

Netbooks really are junk. Smallest MacBook Air reminds me of one of them, and it's just not needed in my opinion. 13" MacBook Air is lovely though. This had to happen eventually.

[robeddie]

Originally Posted by sshambles

Netbooks really are junk. Smallest MacBook Air reminds me of one of them, and it's just not needed in my opinion. 13" MacBook Air is lovely though. This had to happen eventually.

What an ignorant statement. The 11'" air is almost as powerful as your 13", but a whole lot more portable. And it's selling very well.

[KPOM]

Originally Posted by sshambles

Netbooks really are junk. Smallest MacBook Air reminds me of one of them, and it's just not needed in my opinion. 13" MacBook Air is lovely though. This had to happen eventually.

I used an 11.6" MacBook Air for over 2 years. Comparing it in any way to a netbook is an insult. The Air uses a true notebook processor (even the Core 2 Duo runs circles around any Atom), has a full sized keyboard, a real trackpad, and 1366x768 screen.

$199 netbooks also tended to be thick bricks.

[HenryDJP]

Originally Posted by levitynyc

Remember when analysts kept wanting Apple to make a Netbook and Steve Jobs was like "We don't know how to make one that's not a piece of junk."

Originally Posted by twiggy0

Steve called it.

Isn't that the truth??? Don't ya love it when haters talk down about SJ's decisions on making products he KNOWS people want? Although I can't say that I saw this coming so fast because the PC industry and it's customers try hard to defy anything Apple does to shake up the industry but when Ultrabooks hit the industry I knew this Jobs was spot on about Netbooks dying a quick death.

[Exio]

Originally Posted by twiggy0

Steve called it.

I could say I also called the death of Job's himself, oh wait...yea no, it's common sense. Everything must end at some point regardless.

[0dev]

Can't say I'm surprised, I don't see many people buying netbooks when iPads and Android tablets are just as cheap and far more convenient and functional.

[daverso]

"Netbooks aren't better at doing anything!"
Favorite steve jobs line.

[HishamAkhtar]

Wow.

Apple literally KILLED a category.

[bwillwall]

Originally Posted by HishamAkhtar

Wow.

Apple literally KILLED a category.

By creating a new one

[ericinboston]

Originally Posted by HishamAkhtar

Wow.

Apple literally KILLED a category.

Um...no.

1)The attractiveness of netbooks was that it was still a full-fledged traditional computer (full OS, real keyboard, multiple USB ports and i/o ports, traditional/same software with exact same features, print ability, etc.) yet it was in a very compact design for about $300 on average. It was not meant to be a game system and surely not designed to be an iPad that is SOOOO completely different than any kind of traditional personal computer.

2)Building on #1, netbooks were extremely handy to bring on vacation and/or have as a 2nd machine since they were very inexpensive (you lose it on vacation and you are out $300...not $800+ for a full laptop) and very small which made them far more portable (not just weight, but the ability to plop them in your bag unlike a 15" laptop).

3)Netbooks were never going to be mainstream as a full laptop replacement and were not designed to be...they were a natural progression of making "laptops" in never-ending formats/offerings. Just as there are super expensive laptops there are super cheap (netbooks) laptops. Even as "2nd machines" they were not an easy sale because for a few hundred bucks more you could get a system with much better performance and a true-size keyboard.

4)Although I agree the iPad *helped* kill off the netbooks, there were so many other reasons why netbooks simply weren't going to be hugely mainstream. A few of those reasons are: a)netbooks were not designed to be game machines or high(er) end video playing machines...so people would still need to spend $500+ for a decent laptop to get what they needed...which was almost 2x the cost of a netbook...b)the keyboards were always just a tad too small due to the form factor...still far better than the iPad...but for anyone typing more than a few paragraphs, it would not work...c)they were relatively slow due to their form factor's physical limitations while trying to keep all the normal laptop stuff (i/o ports, keyboard size, SATA ports, etc...so some people typically opted to buy a higher end netbook for $400 to get a larger netbook but then realized they could come back to reality and spend $550 and get a "full" size laptop and stop crying about the 2 pounds of extra weight.

5)It's very hard to convince me (or others) that a cheapest of the cheap iPad for $500 (almost 2x the cost of the average netbook), with it's Apple monopoly, iTunes mandatory use, COMPUTER MANDATORY USE (to run iTunes), non-Windows apps, non-Apple standard apps, no print ability, no standard i/o ports "machine" was the single or very strong reason why netbooks died. No way. Was it a factor? Yes...for some. I would argue the iPhone and other smartphones had more impact because they are really computers more than phones...and can access the internet anywhere...and simply that although a low average price at $300, netbooks were just a hair too limiting when a $500+ Windows laptop would more than make up. Let's face it, computers are essential and every home in the USA has a few...might as well get what is really needed.

6)It's also laughable to suggest that an Apple $1400+ laptop ate away at sales of a $300 Windows laptop. Even if it was a $800 Apple laptop that would suggestions would be absurd.


I bought a netbook back in 2008...it was actually extremely useful but a little small for my typing fingers. I loved the ability to: run iTunes on it and use it as a jukebox for my stereo, easily surf the net wherever I wanted (I do not own any laptops...just desktops), take on vacations with little fear of theft, and generally use as a 2nd computer. It cost me $275. I stopped using it after a few years mainly because it was just a tad too small overall...and my iPhone became my #1 way to check my emails and a few quick websites each day.

[Exio]

Originally Posted by HishamAkhtar

Wow.

Apple literally KILLED a category.

Why are you crediting apple with this? They didn't kill anything. The market killed it, apple simply produced products that people want, along with many other companies like god forgive for saying it on this forum, Samsung.

Apple may control millions of people by locking them into proprietary software and hardware, but they don't kill markets. Typical ego enthusiastic apple fan, get off your high horse.

----------

Originally Posted by surjavarman

2008? Really? Times have changed. Laptops were the only choice consumers had for mobility. Here are more recent numbers
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/24/...on-in-revenue/

Apple is selling more than 10x as much iOS devices as laptops. Its 10 to 1. And even windows 8 is a huge failure. Laptops are only serving the niche by now. Either everyone already has a laptop by now and won't be upgrading for the next few decades. Or they have replaced their laptops with more mobile and user friendlier tablets and smartphones.

Laptops are dead. Not just netbooks.

Hahaha, what do you expect every corporate office to have all there workers type things up and work on small little touch screens?

Just to further the ridiculousness of your claims, iOS has no chance of really replicating productivity and versatility of the standard laptop/desktop
OS. Apple markets it as a media consuming tool, and they lock it down to keep it as such. So until apple stops focusing on media and useless other things, and they actually put some useful software on their mobile devices what you predict will never happen.

----------

Originally Posted by AustinIllini

The Microsoft Surface provides all the functionality you're describing, and it doubles as a tablet.

Apple sold more iPad minis in a month than all the sold netbooks combined in a quarter. netbooks are deader than dead. Not fanboyish, just truth.

I really don't get it, netbooks are meant for portable productivity, ipads and any tablet for that matter is meant for portable media consumption, and the occasional simple task. Apples and oranges if you ask me.

----------

Originally Posted by AustinIllini

The Microsoft Surface provides all the functionality you're describing, and it doubles as a tablet.

Apple sold more iPad minis in a month than all the sold netbooks combined in a quarter. netbooks are deader than dead. Not fanboyish, just truth.

I really don't get it, netbooks are meant for portable productivity, ipads and any tablet for that matter is meant for portable media consumption, and the occasional simple task. Apples and oranges if you ask me.

But I forgot i'm on an apple forum where users are okay with sacrificing performance for a product that is 2mm thinner.

----------

Originally Posted by driceman

Steve is smiling somewhere.

No, he's dead; sorry.

[Steve121178]

Originally Posted by HishamAkhtar

Wow.

Apple literally KILLED a category.

People just started buying cheap Android tablets, premium Android tablets, iPads & making use of their smartphones to browse the web instead of buying crappy Netbooks. It's not all down to Apple.

[Renzatic]

Originally Posted by daverso

"Netbooks aren't better at doing anything!"
Favorite steve jobs line.

They're the best at being little computers.

...but yeah, I always thought the iPad was a better device for netbook style tasks than a netbook ever was.

[Small White Car]

So it turns out that the only difference between a MacBook Air and a Netbook was they one was small and good and one was small and bad. And this outcome shocks who?

I love how the tech press kept trying to convince us that, "oh no no, they're totally different categories!"

No, a phone is a different category. A bicycle is a different category. A Netbook is just a crappy laptop.

[notjustjay]

Originally Posted by Small White Car

So it turns out that the only difference between a MacBook Air and a Netbook was they one was small and good and one was small and bad. And this outcome shocks who?

I love how the tech press kept trying to convince us that, "oh no no, they're totally different categories!"

I do remember being shocked at how inexpensive they were. Previously the only way to get a tiny laptop was to buy an ultraportable, like the Sony X505, which was in the $3000 range. Suddenly there was this new market for tiny laptops that cost $200-500.

Obviously it took a lot of shortcutting to get there, but I was (and still am) very surprised that it was even possible to drive the price point that low.

[AppleFan1984]

Originally Posted by Small White Car

So it turns out that the only difference between a MacBook Air and a Netbook was they one was small and good and one was small and bad.

Well, that and $700.

What happened with netbooks is they got bigger, and became laptops. Asus hasn't stopped making small, affordable laptops, they just stopped making ones with a 10" screen (customers prefer 11.6"), and stopped calling them "netbooks", offering a wider range of CPUs across broader price points.

Apparently there's still a market for computers, with current and projected sales at roughly the same growth rates as we've seen for the last decade:
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-f...ck-2012-3?op=1

[Spetsnazos]

Originally Posted by Small White Car

So it turns out that the only difference between a MacBook Air and a Netbook was they one was small and good and one was small and bad. And this outcome shocks who?

I love how the tech press kept trying to convince us that, "oh no no, they're totally different categories!"

No, a phone is a different category. A bicycle is a different category. A Netbook is just a crappy laptop.

one costs $1000+ and the other $300.

Seriously people in thsi thread are comparing apples to saucers. The MBA is HELLISHLY more expensive than most netbooks. They aren't even in the same category.

THe netbook market died off because the companies producing them were hardly turning a profit.

I have a ASUS eePC and this thing is awesome for what it is. I used it to program in my engineering lab and do assignments in class. Was it ideal? NO! Was it portable, cheap and easily replaceable? YES! It got the job done very well, it could run MatLAB, MS Office, VPN software and torrent as needed.

Some of you guys have serious blinders on if you think that it died because Steve called it.

[Slix]

Been thinking this for a while. iPads and MacBook Airs are the way to go, Netbooks aren't good at all, like Steve said.

[Hakone]

It did what it promised.... slowly.

[MMOTotal]

Hey look, Steve was right.... again

[rei101]

Personally something named "Mac Book Air" is ages more catchy that something called "Eee PC".

First big failure there, people will buy what they can remember and recall easily.

[AFDoc]

Originally Posted by MMOTotal

Hey look, Steve was right.... again

and now he's dead.

I never really liked the netbooks because they didn't do anything I needed that my full sized LT couldn't do. It could however do more than an iPad when it came to computing. Most used it to surf the web and do fb updates so not a huge loss for condumers IMHO.