Linux Reaches 32% Netbook Market Share

christian.einfeldt writes "Linux netbooks have captured 32% of the global netbook market, says Jeff Orr, an analyst with consumer computer research firm ABI Research. The largest share of netbook sales is in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, according to Orr. ABI's latest figures align with a statement by Dell executives in February of this year, to the effect that Linux netbooks comprised about 33% of Dell shipments of Dell Inspiron mini 9s netbooks. These data points cast doubt on claims by Microsoft that Windows XP has captured 98% of the netbook market (a figure Microsoft later revised to 93%). In an interview with DesktopLinux.com, Orr made clear that the 32% Linux netbook market share did not include either user-installed Linux or dual-boot systems, but was confined to just pre-installed Linux shipments."

Comments

A view from Asia-Pacific

[Gadget_Guy]

I live in Australia, and find it quite rare to find Linux based netbooks in shops. They are available, but mostly from the more specialist retailers. Even then they only have very low specs.

I just got back from Singapore, where I was hoping to pick up a cheap Linux netbook to use over there at a conference. Not only were prices similar to Australia for computer stuff, but virtually all the netbooks ran Windows. There were only a couple of places that I came across that offered Linux, and they were not cheap. They also seemed to be older models. I was disappointed.

That said, anyone who is really interested in Linux would not be satisfied with the simplified versions that come with netbooks. If you are going to wipe the OS to install your own distro, then it doesn't make a great deal of difference what the original operating system is. Any cost savings for having Linux seem to be offset by the premium of buying such a rare beast.

Re:A view from Asia-Pacific

[QuantumG]

Go to Officeworks, still half of their ASUS netbooks are Linux based. When the lovely sales assistant starts telling you about the evils of Linux, assure him you know what you're doing and head to the counter.

Even then they only have very low specs.

That's the point of a netbook.. and the reason why Linux is so popular on them.

Of course, you'll probably want to nuke the "linux" on them and put Ubuntu on it.

Re:A view from Asia-Pacific

[Cimexus]

Huh? That's weird...I also live in Australia and was going to post that I'm not surprised that APAC seems to be a successful market for these Linux netbooks. The Linux netbooks are displayed quite prominently (along with the Windows ones of course) in quite a few retailer. JB Hifi springs to mind ... the one near my place has the linux netbooks right there on the ends of the aisle ... actually ~more~ prominently placed than the Windows ones now that I think about it.

Must be one of those things that varies depending on the particular store and demographic. The area I live in is quite 'young and techy' so perhaps the Linux netbooks do well here compared to other places in Australia.

I wonder if many install Windows themselves

[RichardDeVries]

I'm a Linux user myself, but I just installed XP on a common desktop box tonight and it was painful. Wifi, sound didn't work out of the box, you have to wait ages for all of the updates and SP's to download and install, reboot far too many times and then you have a empty OS almost without useful apps. Some things were hard to get working (Radeon driver installer throwing errors, Wifi driver refusing to work).
I wonder how many 'average' users would get XP, Vista or 7 working on a desktop, let alone a netbook.

Re:Oblig Simpson Quote

[Anonymous Coward]

Why would someone purchase a linux based laptop at around equal price as a windows one to go through the extra steps to avoid paying $7 for a Windows XP Home License ?