Netbook or Notebook

We've been hearing about the high number of retail returns from Netbooks or Mini-Notebooks for some time now. So, a study published yesterday by The NPD Group is welcome evidence of the misunderstanding between what consumers expect and what they actually get.

NPD's Netbooks II: A Closer Look study found that some 60% of consumers who purchased a Netbook instead of a Notebook thought that their Netbooks would have the same functionality as a Notebook - a fundamental error. Moreover, only 58% of consumers who bought a Netbook after originally considering a Notebook were satisfied with their purchase. But, for those consumers who bought a Netbook, when they considered buying a Netbook right from the outset, some 70% said that they were satisfied.

Despite this level of misunderstanding, and the resulting hit to satisfaction, the threat of cannibalisation across the form factors is very real. IDC's latest note on this shows that Netbook shipments in Q1 09 of 5.7mn units contributed, in some way, to a decline in Notebook sales of around 3.1mn units. As such, the industry needs to find a way of explaining that Netbooks are not the smaller and lighter Notebooks many clearly think they are. In fact, the NPD report found that around 60% of consumers said they bought a Netbook because of the enhanced portability factor, while a majority of those who bought a Netbook never take their Netbooks out of the house! Marketing - looks like it's over to you...