You know all that talk about tablets like the Apple iPad killing netbooks? I wouldn’t bet on it… at least not right away. Sure, Apple sold a million iPads within the first month. But do you know how many netbooks have been sold over the past 2.5 years? More than 85 million, according to Intel CEO Paul Otellini. And that’s just netbooks that are powered by Intel chips (which is admittedly most of them).

Speaking at an event in Amsterdam, Otellini said a large part of the appeal for netbooks is the low cost. Netbooks tend to sell for about half the price of larger, more powerful notebooks. While the Apple iPad technically does cost about half as much as a Macbook, you can pick up a netbook for about $250 to $300 today while the cheapest iPad costs $500.

While I think there’s plenty of room for tablets and netbooks to live side by side in harmony, I think it might be a bit premature to announce that the iPad or any other product is killing the netbook.

Update: 2010 is also shaping up to be a good year for notebook sales overall, with a 43 percent growth in mobile PC sales in Q1, 2010 over the same period in 2009.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,547 other subscribers

10 replies on “Intel: More than 85 million netbooks sold”

  1. Most of all people likes to use processor of intel because it is the leading company in this field. So as a result people likes to prefer intel than any other. I have heard that 40 million PCs have shipped through government-sponsored programs in emerging markets in the same four years.

  2. INVENTORS – DO NOT TRUST INTEL
    I invented a CPU cooler – 3 times better than best – better than water. Intel have major CPU cooling problems – “Intel’s microprocessors were generating so much heat that they were melting” (iht.com) – try to talk to them – they send my communications to my competitor & will not talk to me.

    Winners of major ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ awardS!!!

    Huh!!!!

    When did RICO get repealed?”

    INVENTORS – DO NOT TRUST INTEL!!!

    BTW, I have the evidence – my competitor gave it to me.

    BBTW, I am prepared to apologise to Intel if;
    • They can show that the actions were those of a single individual in the company, acting outside corporate policy, and:
    • They gain redress on my behalf.

    Although playing a major role in it’s facilitation, the power of the internet appears to have come as much a surprise to Intel as it has to the catholic church.

    Inventors – help your fellow inventors – share your experiences with companies – good and bad.

  3. Sure netbook sales have slowed down. So will the ipad sales once everyone who really wants one has bought one. The idea that netbooks will die out is just wishful thinking of the manufacturers who want to sell expensive laptops to people who don’t need that kind of power.

    1. This is exactly I felt when those articles came out. I am guessing the people grew more interest on buying yet another Netbook after that. lolz.

  4. I like my netbooks so much I have 2. I am not remotely interested in a tablet epically the ipad. I bought a 2.1 ghz dell inspiron for $450(on sale). It does everything including snow leopard if I wanted. It will be interesting to see how tablet market goes.

  5. The only thing that will kill netbooks is if we change the name.

    I’m sure, when the name changes, some smarty pants will “PROVE” Apple killed the netbook, “Look not one manuafcure sold a netbook this year! Steve Jobs knew they wouldn’t last!!!”

    But, of course we’ll all be using Smartbooks or FloatBooks (on ‘The Cloud’**) which just happen to be sub-$500, low power, energy efficent computers.

    ** BTW: I just trademarked FloatBook

Comments are closed.