May 04, 2009, 11:35 AM — Last week I wrote about Apple's COO calling netbooks junky and unusable--but it would be a good idea for Mr. Cook to take a look at the most recent sales figures from IDC.
According to IDC figures reported in Network World, netbook shipments are up sevenfold for the first quarter of 2009 compared to a year ago. Although netbooks are still a relatively small percentage of all PC business, this rapid growth is significant and PC makers ignore it at their own peril.
Netbooks are decidedly a niche product, but it's a big niche. It's very common for PC users to have a second notebook, and the netbook fits in very nicely as a notebook for traveling, or for those who don't need a lot of high-end power on their machines. Is a $300 netbook the biggest, baddest PC on the block? No. Is it good enough? Most of the time. And "good enough" is a big marketplace.
