Laptops UK
 
 
Ultramobile Shipments to Match Laptops by 2013
Fri, 26 Sep 2008
New research has suggested that mobile internet devices and netbooks will be as popular as notebooks in five years time. By 2013, demand will equalise for the two devices with both notebooks and ultramobile devices expected to reach around 200 unit shipments, according to ABI Research. That would make the ultramobile device market worth almost £15 billion – a massive increase on its present value. Just 10 million netbooks and mobile internet devices are expected to be sold this year, meaning the ultramobile market is forecast to grow by an astonishing average of 38 million shipments per year.

At present, netbooks are the most popular type of ultramobile device, accounting for 90 per cent of shipments, but the increasing popularity of mobile internet devices is one of the reasons for the ambitious forecasts. Mobile internet devices are expected to become the dominant ultramobile device within 5 years, contribute to roughly 68 per cent of shipments.

Principal analyst at ABI Reseach, Philip Solis, said, ‘As this market enters its rapid-growth phase and starts to evolve, we will see considerable experimentation with different distribution channels: some will sell direct from the manufacturer, some via retail outlets and some through mobile operators who will subsidise them, to encourage new data-plan subscriptions’.