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According to a new ABI Research study, 163 million smartbooks will ship worldwide in 2015, which is a significant rate of growth given that the very first models only appeared in 2008.
Qualcomm and Freescale are leading the way, whereas Texas Instruments and NVIDIA also want a piece of the action. The first products are already announced and are coming from such brands as Lenovo, Sharp, HP; as well as newcomers such as Always Innovating (Touch Book).
The problem is in the product differentiation with netbooks, which unlike smartbooks rely on x86-based processors. As far as an average consumer sees, there are no real differences between the two product categories — usually both look like small laptops. In that sense, ABI’s Jeff Orr says that vendors should avoid creating a separate market category with a new name, “instead accepting that they are competing in an established category.” He believes that the best opportunity in this ultra-mobile device market lies in new form-factors (like tablets?).
ABI goes on to add that smartbooks should keep their prices down, suggesting it will be important for vendors to bring entry-level smartbook prices to $200 or less.
Personally I love the idea and the only problem I have is in the size of smartbooks. Instead of making even smaller laptops, most vendors are opting for netbook-sized products with 8.9 or 10-inch screens. Again, I argue for a smaller device that’s comparable in size to the Sony VAIO P.
Additional details on ABI’s report are available from their website.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
