Remember when all the technology pundits said Apple needed a netbook to survive? Philip Elmer-DeWitt shows graphics of what has happened to the netbook market segment since news of the iPad began to surface. Hint: It ain’t pretty.
Sales growth of these low-cost, low-powered computing devices peaked last summer at an astonishing 641% year-over-year growth rate. It fell off a cliff in January and shrank again in April — collateral damage… from the January introduction and April launch of the iPad.
Commenter Tom Burnham in Fortune:
Netbook = slow; iPad = fast.
Netbook = poor for games; iPad = excellent for handheld games. Accellerometer.
Netbook = wifi; iPad = optional 3G
Netbook = fragile; iPad (presumably) sturdier (no hinge)
Netbook = trackpad, keyboard; iPad = tablet features, “soft” or, optional, external keyboard.
Netbook = short battery life; iPad = long.
Netbook = poor for video; iPad = great for video.
Netbook = “OK” for putting on the tray table in a plane; iPad = better.
Goodbye, netbook. We hardly knew ye.
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