Mini Laptops Boost Computer Sales

Mini Laptops Boost Computer Sales

According to industry analysts at Gartner Inc., revenues from mini laptops are keeping the PC market afloat amidst worldwide economic instability.


With the current global financial setbacks, a lot of people are opting for cheap mini-laptops to save costs. Consequently, PC shipments rose up to 80.6 million units in the third quarter this year, which accounted 15 percent from that of 2007. Many computer makers have jumped into the ultra-portable laptop bandwagon in hopes of boosting company revenues.



Mika Kitagawa, a principal analyst with Gartner, said in a statement, "The mini-notebook segment experienced strong growth in the global PC [market], led by robust growth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. the North America market, the economic crunch created more interest in the sub [US]$500 segment ... At the same time, the global PC market finally felt the impact from the global economic downturn. The U.S. professional market experienced the biggest hit from the economic crunch. The U.S. home market saw definite softness in PC sales after a few quarters of strong growth."



Mini laptops, more popularly known as netbooks, are a category of small to medium sized, light-weight, low-cost, energy-efficient, Internet-centric laptops. Most PC users plump for mini laptops mainly for purposes of web surfing and e-mailing. Majority of these users also rely on online applications and services available on the Internet to reduce hardware requirements and take advantage of low-cost computing.