Hi Blog community, I want to run a few ideas past you see what you think. Is the Netbook a friend or a Foe to the Notebook? Let me elaborate.

Netbooks have been showing high volumes in Q4 08 IDC reported that Netbook represented 30% of all consumer portables in EMEA (Eurpoe Middle East and Africa) but what does this large segment share represent. How will the Notebook Netbook dynamic play out, is the Netbook a Friend or a Foe to the Notebook?

Foe

Netbooks cost significantly less than Notebooks on Amazon you can buy a Acer Aspire One Netbook for under £325 while a Acer Aspire 16-inch Laptop is £699.99 over twice the price!!! With this much difference in price are people moving away from traditional Notebooks. There is no doubt Netbooks have a significant performance disadvantage compared to Notebooks but does this matter, are Netbooks good enough? Do they do the job? If the answer is yes then will we see the Notebook losing market share to the smaller lighter cheaper Netbook?

Friend

Is the Netbook a companion device of a Notebook? Will consumers use both?  The time I see most Netbooks is on the train. Are consumers leaving their larger, more expensive and easier to break Notebooks at home in favour of using the smaller Netbook while on the move only to upload the documents back onto the Notebook at the end of the Day?

What do you do? How do you think this dynamic will play out? Your comments please.