Published in AI

163 million smartbooks to ship in 2015

by on23 February 2010


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Another fad in the making


According to
a report by ABI Research, smartbooks are the new black and they could seize a rather significant foothold in the market over the next few years.

Analysts expect as many as 163 million smartbooks to ship worldwide in 2015. It sounds like a rather optimistic projection, especially considering the fact that smarbooks can't run desktop versions of Windows and that they will have to compete with tablets, e-book readers and netbooks, which are no longer aimed at niche markets but at the average consumer.

ABI Research senior Analyst Jeff Orr said that the defining characteristic of all smartbooks, as categorized in the research, is that they won't be based on x86 processors. " "ABI Research defines a smartbook as a low-powered device running a mobile operating system that is always connected, either via Wi-Fi or using cellular or mobile broadband," said Orr.

Orr points out that vendors should avoid creating separate market categories with new names and that they should try to compete in established categories. In other words, they shouldn't confuse consumers. "We believe the best opportunity in this ultra-mobile device market lies in new form-factors," said Orr.

ABI Research believes sub-$200 smartbooks have the biggest chance of success.
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