We’re used to Netbooks causing a storm, ever since they arrived on the street back in 2007 it seems that directly or indirectly they are always in the news.
Now it looks like the Netbook might be getting pulled into line. Dell has just announced that it will be dropping its 12 inch Netbook in favour of Netbooks with smaller screens.
Why would they do that?
Well simply because the Dell 12 inch mini isn’t a Netbook. And who says it isn’t? Err Microsoft and Intel.
Yes that’s right. No of course they didn’t come out and say directly that the Dell 12 inch Netbook isn’t a Netbook, Microsoft just limited Windows 7 starter edition to devices that have screens of 10.2 inches or less and Intel are going to charge more for Atom processors for Netbooks with larger screens.
This move of course will effectively stand in the way of what the consumer wants and progress and it will put a limit on the size of Netbooks once and for all, just when consumers were starting to enjoy the larger screens and keyboards too.
It’s pretty obvious that this is all about profit and has nothing to do with what the consumer may actually want or prefer.
TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington sums it up. He wrote “Dell may also be seeing customers who would otherwise buy a dual core 13 inch or 14 inch Inspiron choosing the lower priced (and less profitable) 12 inch Netbook instead. That’s something they aren’t going to be happy about.
Sadly, the days of the larger sized Netbook are probably numbered, and no doubt vendors are going to be pushing the new class of ultra thins. Oh yes you get the larger screens and a bit more power but you pay a lot more for it too.
No doubt many will be more than happy with that. Certainly the vendors will.
Yes, these are far more profitable for the vendors and producers than a larger sized under powered Netbook which many in the business were worried might eat into the sales of the new darlings of the industry, the ultra thins, or even the lower spec laptops, both of which cost more.
Nope, whether you love the oversized cheap and cheerful Netbooks or not, there’s every possibility that you might have trouble finding them in future.
Who says consumer is king?
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Informative post. Thanks alot.
alot means to allocate. a lot means many and is two words… a & lot separate. americans trying to re-invent english. Bah!