Microsoft: Netbooks are down 40%

Part of the reason? Microsoft says there’s been an 8% decline in the consumer PC market and a whopping 40% decline in netbooks.

There’s been a lot of talk over the past few years about the rise and fall of netbooks, but most of the figures have been based on educated guesses by industry analysts. Microsoft’s in a much better position to track the netbook market, since the company’s Windows 7 Starter Edition ships on most of the low cost mini-laptops.

There are still a few things to consider. First, it’s not entirely clear from Microsoft Investor Relations manager Bill Koefoed’s comments whether the company is talking about an actual 40% decline in netbook sales, or a 40% decline in sales growth — two figures I often see confused. Some of the language in Koefoed’s comments lead me to believe it’s a decline in growth — which is to say that the netbook market might still be growing, just not as fast as it used to.

The second thing to consider is that nobody ever expected netbooks to replace traditional laptops or other mobile computers. Instead, the introduction of the netbook a few years ago showed that there was demand for low cost portable computers.

News Source: Liliputing