Reasons for the decline of netbooks: Smartphones have been devastated by price wars

Yesterday, Lenovo had stopped selling netbooks on its website. Prior to this, many PC makers have stopped and reduced the production and sales of netbooks. This shows that the Internet that used to be hot for a while now has become obsolete, and it is inevitable that it will exit the market. Lenovo Group told this reporter yesterday: The suspension of sales is news of Lenovo's foreign websites. China has not received a notification and it is expected to respond today.

Multiple vendors exit the netbook market Netbooks were first introduced in 2007. They are designed for surfing the Internet, online content consumption, and flexible office space. Because the price is only 3,000 yuan, it is more than half the cost of a standard laptop. Once launched, it will be greatly welcomed by those who travel frequently and who care about convenience. It attracted many vendors such as Asustek, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer and Lenovo to join the battle. Various netbook advertisements were overwhelming, and an epidemic of chasing netbooks spread across the globe. In 2008 and 2009, the hottest period in the netbook market was that the market share of mobile notebooks was as high as 20% to 25%.

However, the picture is not long, and the Internet market is gradually turning cold. With the rapid development of the mobile Internet and the rise of smart phones and tablet computers, the once-broadband Internet has gradually declined. Market research firm IDC analysis believes that since the beginning of 2010, netbook sales have begun to decline, and sales in the United States have plunged. Today, except in Latin America, netbook sales have stopped growing in most countries, and growth has been concentrated mainly in developing countries. In the past two years, sales of netbooks in the world have shown a gradual decline, and this trend is still deteriorating.

There are fewer and fewer new styles of netbooks, and the time interval between launches is getting longer and longer. Dell has stopped selling netbooks, and HP appears to be ready to push the company’s only existing netbook to the education market. As the earliest netbook maker, Asustek is still sticking to its final position and sells a variety of netbooks. In the fourth quarter of last year, global netbooks shipped 6.3 million units, a year-on-year drop of 29%. The report from Microsoft also shows that just a year ago, netbooks, which also accounted for about 8% of the PC market, now only have a 2% market share.

Reason 1: The ipad smart phone hit the netbook is marginalized, on the one hand is its own functional defects. Many consumers believe that the on-line body type does not have the advantages of a lightweight tablet computer, a function-free notebook computer, and a stylish appearance. It is doomed to be a transitional product.

From a performance point of view, functional deficiencies are the main reason for consumers to give up. Some consumers report that netbooks are tiring when used for a long time, the keyboard size is not suitable for men, there is a problem of short standby time and high calorific value. Many users complained: "Although netbooks can be purchased for more than 1,000 yuan, compared with traditional laptops, the performance is really far behind."

On the other hand, ipad and other alternatives are fiercely competitive. In the past few years, the PC industry is facing the greatest challenge in 20 years. Tablet PCs, especially the iPad, have almost monopolized growth, which makes the traditional PC market difficult to develop. Because of iPad's best-selling, the netbook has lost all markets. At present, the price of most netbooks in the Chinese market has fallen below 2,000 yuan. Although the price is much lower than the iPad and other tablet computers, the performance of the netbook computer is far too low. From an application point of view, The iPad's replacement effect is very significant.

It is not only the ipad. At present, many smart phones are increasingly moving closer to the notebook in terms of processor operating speed and memory bandwidth. The performance of some smart phones is comparable to the current mainstream netbooks. However, the degree of convenience and richness of functions is a netbook. None of them.

Reason 2: The low threshold for price wars to destroy netbooks is also lost in the hands of manufacturers. During the hot period of the year, many manufacturers competed to enter, many cottage mobile phone manufacturers also turned to the cottage in the online production and sales ranks. Since the basic hardware configuration of these netbooks is almost the same, even the "likeness" looks pretty much the same. Manufacturers have only the price for shopping, and the price is a few hundred yuan. After a short while, many manufacturers began to flee the netbook market.

At the same time, if the netbook is completely swept, it means that the company's profits have died out. The reason is simple. Netbooks have a lower profit margin than traditional laptops. The more they sell, the more they will squeeze the sales and profit of traditional notebooks, and the more they lose.