I use both my netbook and notebook, but for different purposes. On short trips I take the netbook, that is great because of its light weight and small size, but obviously not as nice to use for extended periods.

I use Dropbox to sync my files from the notebook to the cloud so that I can easily access any files I need from my netbook via the Dropbox web interface when I am out and about.

I understand what you’re saying, but the iPhone has a screen that is a fraction of the size of a netbook and costs about the same amount — and iPhone sales are not suffering.

I believe that, like the iPhone, these devices are not being bought as primary computers for use many hours a day. They are being purchased as second, third, fourth, etc. systems by people who already have laptops and/or desktops. They are fine for banging out a quick e-mail, configuring a router, making sure a web server you’re responsible is still up, taking a few notes during a presentation, or verifying that the price you’re about to pay for something is really competitive.

At $300, I think that they will be a hit. All we have to do now is see whether a flash-based system running a custom Linux will emerge the sales leader or whether a pricier Windows-based platform will win out. I’m hoping for the former.

For the same price (or for a tiny bit more) you can get a basic laptop that can do a lot more than just browsing in that small little window. Those small screens are not that great for too much browsing. May be Netbook should come with trimmed down versions of the major browsers to avoid wasting the precious screen real-estate.

Also I would go for at least 10 inches or more. Anything less is too small of a screen to view anything decent.

Comparing a Dell Mini 9 notebook with a white MacBook is not comparable Reestman is right. As laptops intended for mobile use the comparison is a 2.28 pound device vs. something twice as heavy and much harder to fit in a bad. The Dell is smaller than many hard back books. If people want performance they aren’t using a white MacBook anyway, that is for sure.

Apple can charge a premium. An apple netbook with the same hardware as PC vendors could cost $599 or $699. It obvious Apple was caught off guard with the popularity of the netbook. One can speculate they are going to attempt to innovate in this new category, show up late and charge the apple tax for it.

Agreed. Netbooks have a lot of appeal (I expect to buy one in the near future) — especially for those times when you just need to check e-mail, FTP a file to a thumb drive, check a price online, etc.

The question is whether it makes sense for Apple to compete in a netbook price war. I don’t think so. OS X practically defines the Mac experience and none of the netbooks available yet have the horsepower to make it responsive and pleasant to use. So to release a Netbook, Apple would need to make a slimmed-down version of OS X (think Windows CE) that could, hopefully, run out of flash memory (adding horsepower costs battery life and larger batteries add weight). Even then, there’s no guarantee that it would sell well enough that they would recoup their engineering costs.

Apple tried to get into the PDA market and that was a disaster. I’m sure that they are remembering that when looking at the netbook market.

Regards,
Fred

Cheap or not, netbooks have appeal.

“The whole argument seems based on a supposition that they aren’t making money.”

Not quite. The term I used is razor-thin margins. The presumption is they may make money, but not very much.

Much like with cheap laptops, in the PC world a vendor can’t afford to give that market up. Not because they want the low margin, but for many the low price is the “bait” and they up-sell stuff to grab a few more $$$. There’s a reason buying Dell or HP online walks you through every known accessory to man. Even if they don’t up-sell you on the purchase, you’re a customer and maybe they’ll up-sell you next time.

Apple is not losing customers to the netbook market. Just today, NPD’s November figures show PC laptop sales up 15% YOY, while Apple’s laptops sales are up 22% YOY. Without cheap netbooks, PCs probably wouldn’t have even reached 15%, yet Apple is still soundly beating them.

“Oh, and here you go: iPhones being sold at WalMart.”

Now for the actual truth: Analysts say Apple *may* offer a discontinued 4-gigabyte iPhone through Wal-Mart for $99. Great. Apple may unload their old, discontinued, outdated stuff through Walmart. That’s like being excited that Carmax has a used Mercedes.

“First, Macs getting sold at a standard electronics retailer (BestBuy),”

Dude, Macs have been sold by standard retailers for decades. And an article about the Best Buy connection is so simple, even you should understand it:

“Best Buy is the largest electronics retailer in the US, and as such, has a geographical reach that Apple lacks. Apple Stores have been successful beyond expectations, but are primarily concentrated in larger metropolitan areas. If Apple hopes to increase its desktop and laptop market share like some expect, Best Buy’s extensive geographical reach will help.”

Sure, you keep telling yourself that Apple is not a luxury brand. Then read this:

Title “Why Apple should keep its prices high during the recession”
Author: Don Reisinger, Technology Columnist at CNET
Date: December 8, 2008

Excerpt:

“Apple has the luxury of being, well, a luxury brand. Most consumers don’t look at Apple and put the company on the same level as a Dell or HP. For consumers who want to save money on a computer or don’t want to worry about learning Mac OS X, Apple isn’t a consideration anyway.

…

People who buy Macs aren’t looking to save money; they’re looking to buy a premium brand because of the perceived value of the product. Apple understands that; we understand that; why don’t analysts? Sure, the market is moving towards cheaper alternatives and some people want smaller laptops, but hasn’t anyone noticed that over the past few years, Apple’s market share has grown considerably in the face of “cheaper” computers?

…a premium brand during a booming period is still a premium brand during a recession. Granted, less people are theoretically able to buy premium products during a recession, but we can’t lose sight of the fact that when we compare comparably equipped products, a Mac is, on average, far less expensive than some want to believe. So maybe a person can’t afford that MacBook Pro he or she has wanted, but you know what? That $999 MacBook is still affordable and, hey, it’s better than buying another cheap Dell laptop, right?

Historically, premium brands perform well because they’re just that–premium. There’s no reason for Apple to drop the price of its Macs to satisfy one analyst who worries the company’s prices are too high. Mac sales are up, Apple’s margins are healthy, and people covet Macs more than any other computer on the market. Consumers are drawn to Macs because they provide more perceived value than any other product on the market. And it’s that perception that has made Apple’s “premium” strategy an unbridled success.

Recession or not, Steve Jobs would be crazy to change anything in that plan.”

————————-

Now go rub some salve on your burns.

“I was a bit off in some of my details (Daimler Chrysler vs Daimler, Rolls Royce being part of BMW/VW)”

Talk about an understatement! You were unaware of things that took place a decade ago (sale of Rolls-Royce to VW). You stated that the stocks of said luxury car makers didn’t tank, when, in fact, Daimler (owner of Mercedes and Maybach) dropped 53% last year.

And to top all of that off, you now seem to think that BMW and VW are somehow related to one another. They aren’t. They are fierce competitors, with VW-owned Audi positioned directly opposite BMW.

For someone who likes to spout off about an ability to “work the Google on the interweb machine,” your misconceptions are hilarious.

Through all of your out-of-context quotes and silly blatherings, you continue to look foolish and prove that you know nothing about retail, marketing, brand positioning, or the stock markets. From the article you failed to grasp:

Title: “In a recession, luxuries are the first to go”

First paragraph:

“For anybody who’s been following the downfall of Sharper Image, there seems to be a pretty obvious lesson: when people are worrying about the rising cost of food and are scrimping to fill their gas tanks, high-priced doodads and assorted electronic gewgaws are the first things to go. The next things, of course, are luxury goods.”

It really can’t get much clearer than that. You can cherry-pick lines out of context all you want, but the above is the clear point of the article.

Please explain again how Apple, by following the business model of Dell (whose stock is down 51.9% YTD), would somehow become far more successful.

Face it: Apple is a luxury brand and has been for years, commanding a far greater price and profit margin than rivals. If they try to go head-to-head price-wise with Acer, MSI, Dell, Lenovo, and other commodity/economy brands, they will lose. Apple’s entire organization, from hardware and software engineering to manufacturing to their retail stores is geared towards providing a premium experience for consumers buying a luxury brand with unique attributes.

It would be like Rotel deciding that they had to bring their pricing in line with that of JVC and Kenwood (work the Google on the interweb machine if you don’t know about Rotel).

Simply put, the razor-thin profit margins on Dell, HP, Acer, etc. would not support Apple’s development of its OS X operating system, their spacious retail stores, their local service centers, their customer support, or their product R&D. Take away those things, and the reason to buy the Apple brand goes away, too. Congratulations, you just reinvented Gateway.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a4YIU21gLaSY&refer=us