El Segundo, Calif. — Notebook PCs in 2010 will post solid double-digit growth due to improved economic conditions worldwide, boosted by high-volume sales of netbooks and consumer ultra-low-voltage (CULV) notebooks, according to iSuppli Corp.
“Despite the worldwide recession last year, consumers were enthusiastic about notebook PCs, a trend that will persist in 2010 especially for the market’s two fastest-growing segments — the netbook and the CULV notebook,” said Peter Lin, senior analyst for compute platforms at iSuppli, in a statement.
The report, Netbooks and CULV Notebooks: Stars of the Future?, shows that overall notebook PC shipments will reach 209.5 million units in 2010, up 25.5 percent from 166.9 million last year. This is higher than the 19 percent increase posted by the market in 2008, and it will also exceed expansion levels during the next four years, according to iSuppli.
Among the notebook PC’s three main segments, the netbook — with a screen size smaller than 10.2 inches and priced at less than $500 — will ship 34.5 million units in 2010, up 30 percent from 2009. By 2014, iSuppli projects netbook shipments will reach 58.3 million units.
In comparison, the CULV notebook — introduced by Intel Corp. in 2009 with a larger form factor than netbooks and priced up to $800 — will ship nearly 14.5 million units in 2010, a 93 percent increase from 7.5 million units last year. This is primarily due to the extremely low shipment base. iSuppli expects this year’s growth will be the highest between 2009 and 2014.
The third segment of the market, the standard notebook, accounts for the largest shipments at 160.5 million units in 2010. But with growth of 21 percent from year-ago levels of 132.9 million, the segment shows the smallest growth in the group. But iSuppli still expects standard notebooks to control the largest share of the market at least until 2014.
The top market leaders in order are Acer, ASUSTeK, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Samsung Electronics and Dell. They command 90 percent of the market, said iSuppli.