Study Shows Linux at 30% of Netbook Market

Nov 11, 2009

Marcel Hilzinger

After Asus added Windows XP to its netbooks, euphoria in the Linux camp soon abated. However, it proved to be a misplaced hangover.

"High return rates, little market share": the scare tactic Microsoft used in the spring of 2009 to declare Linux dead in the water in the netbook market. But what might be true for the U.S. doesn't hold for the European and worldwide market as a whole.

Not only did Dell repeatedly confirm that it found no higher a return rate than Windows for its 30% Ubuntu-installed netbooks, a new independent study by the ABI Research firm forecasts a 32% market share for Linux on netbooks for 2009.

Eric Lai of ComputerWorld perused the cost-based study and spoke with its leader, analyst Jeff Orr. Orr even predicted that ARM processors becoming more popular might drive Linux to overtake Windows in the netbook market by 2013.

According to Lai, Microsoft also revised its earlier claim of a 96% ownership of the market. Microsoft's statement now says, "over 93% of worldwide small notebook PCs run Windows today."

Related content

Microsoft Loses $435 Million in Netbooks

According to current figures from Netbookdigest.com, Microsoft has lost $435,000,000 over the last year in netbook sales.

more »
Netbook Market: Is Microsoft Winning?

While Microsoft blogger Brandon LeBlanc is celebrating his employer as winner in the netbook market, opportunities are opening up in the Asian market for the netbook's even smaller relative, the so-called mobile internet device.

more »
Hybrid Netbook with Linux and Windows 7 from Lenovo

Lenovo presented a hybrid netbook with Intel CULV processor and a tablet usable display with integrated ARM CPU at the CES in Las Vegas. The operating system is Windows 7 for the netbook and Linux for the tablet.

more »
Dell challenges Psion's claim to Netbooks

Since the end of 2008, Psion has actively defended its copyright of the term netbook, with some success. Now Dell has issued court papers disputing the claim.

more »
Acer Targets Android Netbooks for Late Summer

Notebook maker Acer is of the opinion that Android will be spreading its wings in the netbook market over the next two years.

more »

comments powered by Disqus

Issue 203/2017

Buy this issue as a PDF

Digital Issue: Price $9.99

(incl. VAT)

DevOps

Reinvent your network with DevOps tools and techniques:

Opportunities and Risks: Containers for DevOps
Automated Builds Using CentOS 7 and Kickstart
Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana – The ELK stack
Are you ready for DevOps? Try your luck with the beta version of Linux Professional Institute's new DevOps exam.

News

Linus Torvalds Invites Attackers to Join the Kernel Community

He wants attackers to join the community instead of attacking the code.
Oracle Donating Java EE to the Eclipse Foundation

Oracle is recommending a new name for the Java Enterprise Edition platform.
Reddit Closing Doors to Open Source

The peanut gallery of the Internet is closing its open source repository.
Largest Open Source Summit to Date Around the Corner

LinuxCon is now Open Source Summit.
Gnome is Celebrating it’s 20th Birthday

Gnome

More than 33 releases since the first release of Gnome.
SQL Server Comes to RHEL; OpenShift Comes to Azure

Microsoft and Red Hat expand their partnership.
LibreOffice 5.4 Released

Comes with improved support for Microsoft Office file formats.
Red Hat to Drop Support for Btrfs

The company is building their own storage solution called Stratis.
Reinvent your network with DevOps tools and techniques:

Opportunities and Risks: Containers for DevOps
Automated Builds Using CentOS 7 and Kickstart
Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana – The ELK stack
Are you ready for DevOps? Try your luck with the beta version of Linux Professional Institute's new DevOps exam.
Kolab Now Integrates Collabora Online

Kolab Now subscribers now have access to Collabora Online.