Netbooks were the only mobile PC category to show year-over-year growth in the second quarter, says a Michelle Maisto story in eWEEK on the DisplaySearch study. The second-quarter 2008 netbook revenue of $848 million was said to have jumped to $2.24 billion in the first quarter of 2009 and 3.07 billion in the second quarter, the latter representing a 264 percent leap.

By comparison, second-quarter 2009 revenue for "ultraportable PCs" was $1.48 billion, representing a year-over-year loss of 31 percent. Larger "portable PCs" with 13- to 16-inch displays earned over six times the revenue of netbooks in the quarter, bringing in $19.73 billion, yet that represented a 13 percent drop year over year, says the story.

Meanwhile, desktop replacement PCs earned $2.09 billion, falling 6 percent, and notebook PCs -- netbooks excluded -- represented $23.29 billion, a drop of 14 percent. The total notebook PC market for the quarter was said to be $26.4 billion, up 10 percent quarter to quarter but down 5 percent year over year.

Netbook sales are primarily driven by pricing pressures, and are typically purchased as secondary computers, says the story. Sales are also being boosted by new markets opening up in emerging economies, where netbooks represent a much larger portion of the portable pie compared to the U.S., says DisplaySearch. Sales are also said to be driven by wireless carriers offering low-cost subsidized netbooks with two-year service contracts.

Our prices are insane!

According to John F. Jacobs, director of notebook market research with DisplaySearch, netbooks "have been a significant contributor to volume growth in the portable PC market as their very attractive price points make owning a secondary computer viable for many consumers."

The lower prices, however, are "clearly having a negative impact on portable PC market revenue," Jacobs was said to have stated. "For 2009, we expect continued ASP erosion across all portable computer categories, leading to the first [year-over-year] decline of portable computer revenue."

Netbook ASPs fell from $506 in the second quarter of 2008 to $373 in the first quarter of 2009, and then to $361 in the second quarter, representing a 29 percent year over year reduction, says the story. (The Gateway LT3013u, pictured at right, was introduced this summer with a typical netbook price of $400.)

By comparison, notebook ASPs, however, were said by DisplaySearch to have fallen at a rate of 10 percent, while overall portable PC ASPs fell by 19 percent.DisplaySearch expects these trends will continue into 2010, when it projects netbooks representing 21.5 percent of the mobile computer market's shipment volume, but only 10.9 percent of its revenue, says eWEEK.

Further information

The eWEEK story on the DisplaySearch mobile computer study may be found here.

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