PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Asus was unable to secure its place as the largest vendor of netbooks during the third quarter of 2008, despite the sheer number of SKUs in its Eee PC range, with fierce rival Acer coming out top.
According to DisplaySearch’s quarterly report, Acer secured a market share of 38.3 per cent compared to Asus, which managed 30.3 per cent. In terms of shipments, Acer managed 2.15m units while Asus managed 1.7m units.
One crucial aspect of this is that Acer managed this with just one SKU, the Acer Aspire One, while Asus has been continuing to expand the number of Eee SKUs throughout the year.
HP came third with its Mini-Note 2133 at 330,000 units shipped during the quarter, accounting for around 5.8 per cent of the market. That was just ahead of MSI, which shipped 320,000 units during the quarter for a 5.7 per cent market share.
However, it is important to bear in mind that that number does not account for those units shipped under the Medion brand – which itself accounts for 130,000 units and if combined would lift MSI’s market share to eight per cent.
Dell came sixth despite its late entry into the market, shipping a total of 160,000 units – a market share of 2.8 per cent. OLPC’s XO laptop shipped 130,000 units, while Intel’s rival netbook, the Classmate managed 60,000 machines.
That figure was matched by Japan’s own Kohjinhsha brand, while Lenovo managed to ship 40,000 netbooks, followed up by Toshiba at tenth with 30,000 units shipped.
According to the figures, a total of 5.61m laptops were shipped during the third quarter. It is unclear if these figures take into account brands sold as part of mobile broadband bundles, Elonex particular conspicuous by its absence.
The report also for the first time estimates the final impact that netbooks would have upon the market. "We expect mini-note PCs [netbooks] to settle at approximately 16 per cent share of the notebook market by 2011," stated DisplaySearch’s notebook research chief, John Jacobs.
