Netbook maker reduces shipments due to success of Apple's iPad

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Asus will ship fewer netbooks in the third quarter of 2010, as sales of the low-power, low-priced machines have dropped due to strong competition from the Apple iPad.



Speaking at an investors conference, president and CEO of Asustek Computer Jerry Shen said his company will ship 1.4 million units in the next quarter, a lower number for its peak sales period. The slowdown in netbook sales is "mainly due to competition" from the iPad, according to DigiTimes.



The company now expects to ship just 1.4 million netbooks in the third quarter, less than the 1.5 million it shipped in the second quarter of 2010, or the 1.6 million to start the year. Asus will launch a new 10-inch netbook running Windows 7 for $399 in September, followed by an 8.9-inch tablet running Linux and powered by an ARM processor for between $199 and $299 in October.



Asus has become one of the top PC makers in the world based on the strength of its netbook sales. In the June quarter, it shipped enough computers to make it the fifth largest PC maker in the world.



Apple's iPad has been viewed as a netbook competitor, and even positioned as one by Apple. When the iPad was first unveiled in January, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs directly compared it to existing netbooks on the market, noting that he felt the new product was lighter and more useful than low-cost netbooks, which he said are just "cheap laptops." With a 9.7-inch display and weighing just 1.5 pounds, the keyboard-less, touchscreen iPad is a much different form factor from the traditional laptop.



When including the iPad in total portable computing sales, Apple vaulted past Asus and others, according to estimates released earlier this month. The iPad sold 3.27 million units in its first three months of availability.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 66
    rbonnerrbonner Posts: 635member
    That is a real slow down considering we are entering the holiday buying season.
  • Reply 2 of 66
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rbonner View Post


    That is a real slow down considering we are entering the holiday buying season.



    Yeah! I am curious what the final tallies will be after the holiday quarter concludes. Asus' speculation on future sales and the reason for the drop in sales is expected, but it?s still just speculation.





    PS: If one really wants a netbook Asus is the way to go.
  • Reply 3 of 66
    joe hsjoe hs Posts: 488member
    Are you talking about Acer or Asus; you mention both.
  • Reply 4 of 66
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Joe hs View Post


    Are you talking about Acer or Asus; you mention both.





    don't let a small bit of proofreading stop you from reading a hastily posted article.
  • Reply 5 of 66
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Joe hs View Post


    Are you talking about Acer or Asus; you mention both.



    Asus. The main article links to the article on DigiTimes. However, I think we may be seeing a slowdown from Acer, too. They say it’s from inventory shuffling, but I think it may be a trend.
  • Reply 6 of 66
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rbonner View Post


    That is a real slow down considering we are entering the holiday buying season.



    But, but, but, but, but..... no one will ever buy an iPad. It doesn't have a USB port, customer acceisble file system, or Flash, so it's worthless.



    Asus must be mistaken.
  • Reply 7 of 66
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    But, but, but, but, but..... no one will ever buy an iPad. It doesn't have a USB port, customer acceisble file system, or Flash, so it's worthless.



    Asus must be mistaken.



    Or a keyboard.

    Or a ?real? OS.

    Or run ?real? apps.





    The only question I have is when the iPad will become Apple?s 2nd most profitable product category after the iPhone.
  • Reply 8 of 66
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    As friends and relatives know I am a Mac guy they are all asking me what I think of iPad, even the die hard PC users! The desire to own one glows in their eyes lol.



    I see Mac Rumors is reporting a possible new iPad being field tested!
  • Reply 9 of 66
    ajitmdajitmd Posts: 365member
    With multimedia, etc, these netbooks are not optimized for these functions. So it is a choice between a powerful - and heavy laptop versus a iPad. Then there is the issue of apps. The big question is what will be the effect of all these Android pads... they got so many announced that it is hard to keep track. Many have little storage capacity, but very affordable.



    Anyway, it is a matter of time, but Apple will add a camera - or two - to the iPad. With Facebook, iPhone 4, I am just surprised they did not include them... not too expensive for OEMs.
  • Reply 10 of 66
    finetunesfinetunes Posts: 2,065member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleStud View Post


    don't let a small bit of proofreading stop you from reading a hastily posted article.



    Yeah, just be glad that these people are't accountants what's wrong with a few extra 0000000's
  • Reply 11 of 66
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Or a keyboard.

    Or a ?real? OS.

    Or run ?real? apps.





    The only question I have is when the iPad will become Apple?s 2nd most profitable product category after the iPhone.



    I suspect with new a version in the wings and who knows, possibly additional form factors using the same OS, I would think you would be asking a damn good question.
  • Reply 12 of 66
    Disclaimer - I'm an Apple fan. Mac's iPhones, iPads etc...



    Surely though some of these PC Netbook are powered just fine?? I have a couple of blogger friends who use them (mainly in wifi free cafe's) to produce video blogs, video uploads / edits etc...and they also use the built in camera for creating some of these video blogs too...



    I never hear them complaining that their Netbooks are underpowered etc...and they can actually import and edit video - unlike me on the iPad! Perhaps they didn't just spend $500 though??



    Are all netbooks garbage really - if you don't mind the small form factor?
  • Reply 13 of 66
    joe hsjoe hs Posts: 488member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FineTunes View Post


    Yeah, just be glad that these people are't accountants what's wrong with a few extra 0000000's



    a few extra 0's? They can work at my bank anytime
  • Reply 14 of 66
    yuusharoyuusharo Posts: 311member
    The problem is netbooks have been on the decline for well over a year now. The iPad may be a contributing factor, but this was bound to happen regardless. The effect netbooks have on the market is driving down the cost of full fledged PCs. Notebooks have come so far down in price, they're able to compete at a $400-600 level while maintaining a "full-sized" notebook performance compared to a limited-performing netbook.



    Its not like ASUS is hurting, however. They will continue to sell machines and do well to be within the top 5 PC makers in the world. Besides, I think all of these manufacturers would love to get out of the netbook game. Margins are so low on the components and builds that they almost make no money selling them.
  • Reply 15 of 66
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by julesburt View Post


    Disclaimer - I'm an Apple fan. Mac's iPhones, iPads etc...



    Surely though some of these PC Netbook are powered just fine?? I have a couple of blogger friends who use them (mainly in wifi free cafe's) to produce video blogs, video uploads / edits etc...and they also use the built in camera for creating some of these video blogs too...



    I never hear them complaining that their Netbooks are underpowered etc...and they can actually import and edit video - unlike me on the iPad! Perhaps they didn't just spend $500 though??



    Are all netbooks garbage really - if you don't mind the small form factor?



    The best computer is the one that suits your needs, but I?d say that most people will be frustrated and annoyed with netbooks because of the shrunken keyboard and relative performance. And by relative speed, I mean the speed the user experiences, not the speed of the HW.



    Netbooks are faster than the iPad?s processor and have more RAM, but they use a standard desktop OS on this HW that pales in comparison to even $400 notebooks when it comes to performance, capacity, and usability. Only on portability does the netbook win over a standard notebook, unless you get a good one with a long battery life.



    Contrast to that, the iPad uses an OS that is both designed for the HW so it feels fast to the user and the UI is designed for the display dimensions, not shoehorned I?ve owned two, one with WinXP and another with Mac OSx86. Neither of these desktop OSes look or feel right on a 10? display, not to mention they are usually the cheapest TN displays on the market, unless you go with Asus.
  • Reply 16 of 66
    benicebenice Posts: 382member
    What's the pricing difference though? To me most average notebooks are still a few hundred cheaper than the iPad. I haven't looked closely at notebook prices for a while though because all those Windows stickers hurt my eyes!
  • Reply 17 of 66
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rbonner View Post


    That is a real slow down considering we are entering the holiday buying season.



    Really? Are you buying Christmas presents in August? I mean, I know my wife is. She buys all year long. But I can't believe the majority are already in holiday buying mode.
  • Reply 18 of 66
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AjitMD View Post


    With multimedia, etc, these netbooks are not optimized for these functions. So it is a choice between a powerful - and heavy laptop versus a iPad. Then there is the issue of apps. The big question is what will be the effect of all these Android pads... they got so many announced that it is hard to keep track. Many have little storage capacity, but very affordable.



    Anyway, it is a matter of time, but Apple will add a camera - or two - to the iPad. With Facebook, iPhone 4, I am just surprised they did not include them... not too expensive for OEMs.





    I think you are wrong. Some are better optimized than you can imagine and way better than iPad. Check Asus Seashell. Can you play HD content on iPad? On ASUS 1201N Seashell you can as it is ION based with dual core hyperthreaded (4 threads) Atom N330 and it has rather large nice screen (12 inch) plus USB, Ethernet e.t.c.



    Even though I am big fan and user of Apple computers and other products from them I think I pass on iPad until it gets mature... and stops being locked to AT&T or what kind of extensions I can connect to it. It may never happen (including "being mature" as I do not consider crowd going after some gadget a factor of being mature as opposed to some analysts).



    I think I might rush to get that Seashell.





    I heard someone on office elevator who was uncomfortable with large laptop so I told her that she may need a netbook and she said: "I need my iPad!". So I asked her: "So what productivity applications can you run on iPad?". I heard lowered voice: "You are right, I need a netbook". Even if Apple comes up with MobileMe/Internet document and productivity suit, it will take a lot of time to be fully featured and working the way one needs to work while in office or on the road. No "basics only" accepted here.





    On top of that: can you really upload your pictures to storage and manage them with iPad? Really? I am looking for something more advanced... just like Aperture or full Photoshop. I guess netbook would work better anyway.
  • Reply 19 of 66
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,857member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post


    Really? Are you buying Christmas presents in August? I mean, I know my wife is. She buys all year long. But I can't believe the majority are already in holiday buying mode.



    Only 130 shopping days left!
  • Reply 20 of 66
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by yuusharo View Post


    The problem is netbooks have been on the decline for well over a year now. The iPad may be a contributing factor, but this was bound to happen regardless. The effect netbooks have on the market is driving down the cost of full fledged PCs. Notebooks have come so far down in price, they're able to compete at a $400-600 level while maintaining a "full-sized" notebook performance compared to a limited-performing netbook.



    Its not like ASUS is hurting, however. They will continue to sell machines and do well to be within the top 5 PC makers in the world. Besides, I think all of these manufacturers would love to get out of the netbook game. Margins are so low on the components and builds that they almost make no money selling them.



    Problem is size. Minaturization costs and it has its own problems.



    I prefer small netbook that is about notebook price(or $100 less only) with high quality/resolution screen, than bulky piece of paddle to handle when on my way.



    Even in the office or at home I prefer small footprint desktop/nettop than disproportionate screen-to-keyboard-wise permanently bonded/hinged two piece hardware. Do you really feel comfortable with notebooks? When did you work with desktop and large screen that you can put into proper distance from your eyes and hands last time? Perhaps you adopted some sort of misery. I do not.
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