IPad defeated netbook. First time pill--basically iPads--outsold mini laptops and almost two to one.
Number crunchers in ABI Research calculate that 13.6 million tablets were sold in the summer of this year, compared with 7.3 million netbooks. Netbooks are still popular, but sales figures are in shambles. In the meantime Tablet sales doubled since the beginning of this year, no doubt due to the arrival of the iPad 2 in March.
The data also show that 68 percent of the pills sold out iPads (Gartner, this figure is 73 per cent for the year). The rest of the tablet pack, such as Android tablets or BlackBerry PlayBook not yet came nowhere near the success of Apple's slate. ABI found that 60 million tablets will fly off the shelves in the year 2012.
Netbooks, eh, remember them? Not so long ago netbooks--small notebooks--were ten a penny. We slept on a bunch of netbooks. We have netbooks bartenders instead of small change. We put a netbook at the stand made of netbooks at the table is made from netbooks. But then the iPad came along, and suddenly the netbooks, yesterday's news.
They are still popular in developing countries, but the early adoption of tech savvy consumers of Western Europe, United States, Japan and South Korea moved pills.
Netbooks and tablets are designed to be portable and uncomplicated, so they could be whipped out of at any time and even in the most cramped space. Do a little work on the train, check your email in the cafe, on the Internet while dropping off the kids at the pool--this sort of thing. Tablets are lighter and larger screens, and they are always on.
In the meantime, the main argument for netbooks to tablets, that they are a physical keyboard, which makes them more suitable for long input like running or via email. Unfortunately, the size of a netbook keyboard is cramped, so it is a matter of personal taste: trash a physical keyboard or touch screen keyboards garbage?
Tablet you nut toaster or a netbook? You've been won over the slate, or would you rather die than abandon keyboard? The view from your thoughts in the comments below or on our Facebook page. And check out the five most popular netbooks and five best pill that you here craving on CNET UK, as voted by you. Yes, you!
Although this doesn't surprise me, I think it's a shame netbooks don't get as much love.