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.