The Dell Mini apparently isn't Michael Dell's favorite product.
(Credit: CBS interactive)Netbooks aren't for everyone, Dell CEO Michael Dell said Tuesday night at a dinner in Silicon Valley hosted by the Churchill Club.
Give a 10-inch Netbook to someone who's been using a 15-inch notebook, and the user will say, "'Hey, this is fantastic....It's so light,'" Dell said, according to The Register. "But about 36 hours later, they're saying 'The screen's gonna have to go. Give me my 15-inch screen back.'" (Editors' note: Dell also spoke at Oracle OpenWorld on Tuesday, about how his company is delivering a more efficient enterprise with its services. See the ZDNet video on right.)
The fact that Dell would take Netbooks to task in such a way should be a surprise, considering his company sells a line of 10-inch Netbooks. But Tuesday night in Santa Clara, Calif., Dell apparently didn't care. He wanted to make it clear that his company realizes the limits of Netbooks and that it offers options.
"We see a fair amount of customers not really being that satisfied with the smaller screen and the lower performance, unless it's like a secondary machine or it's (a) very first machine and the expectations are low," Dell said, according to The Register. "But as a replacement machine for an experienced user, it's not what we'd recommend. It's not a good experience, and we don't see users very happy with those."
Although Dell obviously has issues with Netbooks, it seems that many consumers don't. A recent study from DisplaySearch found that as notebook sales fell 14 percent in the second quarter year over year, Netbook sales rose a whopping 264 percent. The research company expects the trend to continue.
With that in mind, was Dell's founder doing the right thing by taking shots at Netbooks? His company does sell them, after all. And if Netbook sales are booming, shouldn't this simply be area where Dell can capitalize.
What do you think?
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A report surfaced on Monday claiming that the new Acer Aspire One Netbook featuring Android will start shipping in August. The price of the Netbook is still unknown.
The computer reportedly will have the Google mobile operating system installed but will be configured as a dual-boot system, also shipping with Microsoft's Windows XP.
In June, just a few days after Acer announced that an Android-based Netbook would hit store shelves, the company told Digitimes that deploying a dual-OS strategy was in its best interest.
"(Acer Chairman) Wang pointed out that the dual-OS strategy is much safer for Acer, since consumer acceptance of the Android platform is unclear for the time being," DigiTimes reported. "Acer will be able to promote Android as a value-added feature, similar to Asustek Computer's Express Gate, to account for any price premium."
It's an interesting decision. To hedge its bets, Acer has decided that consumers wouldn't want an Android-only Netbook. So if you're looking to buy one of these computers, you'll have two operating systems from which to choose. Which OS would you pick?
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Netbooks are helping boost the PC market as it continues to slide with the economy, but it's only a matter of time before something precipitates a market upturn.
Thanks to the announcement of the Archos 9 PC Tablet on Wednesday, there's even more evidence helping fuel speculation that touch screens can transform the Netbook experience from basic computing into multitouch bliss.
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Touch screens are undoubtedly popular in the mobile market, but they have yet to break through in the computing space. Will they be as revolutionary for PCs as they have thus far been for smartphones?
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The Netbook is looking more like a notebook nowadays.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)According to a study released on Tuesday by market research firm NPD Group, Netbooks are confusing customers. Sixty percent of the nearly 600 adults surveyed said they bought a Netbook instead of a notebook because they thought they had the same functionality. Had they known that they didn't, many of those respondents would have purchased a notebook instead.
"We need to make sure consumers are buying a PC intended for what they plan to do with it," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. "Retailers and manufacturers can't put too much emphasis on PC-like capabilities and general features that could convince consumers that a Netbook is a replacement for a notebook. Instead, they should be marketing mobility, portability, and the need for a companion PC to ensure consumers know what they are buying and are more satisfied with their purchases."
Baker makes a fine point. Netbooks aren't notebooks. They're not nearly as powerful as their larger counterparts, they're cheaper, and they're typically more suitable for those who want to go mobile. But that line between Netbooks and notebooks is quickly blurring. And it's starting to backfire.
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