Netbook Market: Is Microsoft Winning?
While Microsoft blogger Brandon LeBlanc is celebrating his employer as winner in the netbook market, opportunities are opening up in the Asian market for the netbook's even smaller relative, the so-called mobile internet device.
Microsoft blogger Brandon LeBlanc quoted as a source for his Microsoft success story some statistics from the NPD Retail Tracking Service. The NPD study found that his company had made significant retail market advances in the netbook sector over 2008. LeBlanc:"We've seen Windows share on these PCs in the U.S. go from under 10% of unit sales during the first half of 2008 to 96% as of February 2009." His explanation: "Initially, some in the industry viewed low-cost netbook PCs as a new challenge for Microsoft and an opportunity for Linux to make inroads in the consumer market. Some believed consumers wouldn't want or need their netbook PC to be a full-featured PC. In fact, the exact opposite turned out to be true." He felt that this "full-featured PC" argument made a Microsoft victory unavoidable and even cited further evidence that the Linux device return rate was "four times higher" than Windows.
Microsoft had been putting timely pressure on netbook hardware producers, while also offering Windows XP at competitive prices, apparently with huge success. Linux providers such as Linpus out of Taiwan are meanwhile considering counterstrategies. It is especially the Asian-Pacific market that is showing evidence of a trend reversal: mobile internet devices (MIDs), or handhelds for short, seem to be gaining a Linux market.
From an interview with the Asia-Pacific media, analyst Ian Lao of the In-Stat market research firm forecasts future successes for the open platform running on MIDs. MIDs first of all distinguish themselves by definition from netbooks in that they have no keyboards and are four to seven inches in size. Because Asian character-based languages are easier to enter via touchpads, MIDs are gaining popularity in that part of the world, according to Lao. He goes further: "MIDs, as more passive, 'content-consumption devices', fit Linux's role so far on the consumer side, where it has successfully run systems for users looking to consume media, but not create." One proof of concept is Ubuntu's "full desktop experience" on the energy efficient ARM processors. Chinese hardware provider SmartQ will also soon release to the marketplace a super-affordable SmartQ 5 MID based on Ubuntu. Lao: "Linux definitely has a growth path with MIDs."
Issue 268/2023
Buy this issue as a PDF
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
LibreOffice 7.5 has Arrived and is Loaded with New Features and Improvements
The favorite office suite of the Linux community has a new release that includes some visual refreshing and new features across all modules.
-
The Next Major Release of Elementary OS Has Arrived
It's been over a year since the developers of elementary OS released version 6.1 (Jólnir) but they've finally made their latest release (Horus) available with a renewed focus on the user.
-
KDE Plasma 5.27 Beta Is Ready for Testing
The latest beta iteration of the KDE Plasma desktop is now available and includes some important additions and fixes.
-
Netrunner OS 23 Is Now Available
The latest version of this Linux distribution is now based on Debian Bullseye and is ready for installation and finally hits the KDE 5.20 branch of the desktop.
-
New Linux Distribution Built for Gamers
With a Gnome desktop that offers different layouts and a custom kernel, PikaOS is a great option for gamers of all types.
-
System76 Beefs Up Popular Pangolin Laptop
The darling of open-source-powered laptops and desktops will soon drop a new AMD Ryzen 7-powered version of their popular Pangolin laptop.
-
Nobara Project Is a Modified Version of Fedora with User-Friendly Fixes
If you're looking for a version of Fedora that includes third-party and proprietary packages, look no further than the Nobara Project.
-
Gnome 44 Now Has a Release Date
Gnome 44 will be officially released on March 22, 2023.
-
Nitrux 2.6 Available with Kernel 6.1 and a Major Change
The developers of Nitrux have officially released version 2.6 of their Linux distribution with plenty of new features to excite users.
-
Vanilla OS Initial Release Is Now Available
A stock GNOME experience with on-demand immutability finally sees its first production release.