[holmes4]

Netbook computers have quickly evolved to strike the right balance of size that appeals to consumers and economic feasibility that appeals to the OEMs/ODMs making them. That appears to be around the 10-inch screen mark.

Research from the Taipei-based Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC) found a significant change in demand for certain size netbooks, the small-size notebook computers with a low-power processor like the Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) Atom instead of an Intel Core 2 or AMD Turion.

MIC reported that in the first quarter of 2009, shipments of netbooks with 7-inch and 8.9-inch netbooks fell rapidly while 10-inch models quickly became the market leaders. The research focused on China, but also examined other parts of the world.

The firm found that sub-10-inch notebook sales fell 11.8 percent sequentially in the first quarter of 2009. However, Acer, Dell and other players launched 10-inch products in the first quarter of 2009, cut production of 8.9-inch devices and, as a result, 10-inch products accounted for about 70 percent of total shipment volume in the first quarter in China.

Full article

[via Internet News]

[Ric]

I guess it makes sense. As much as I liked the keyboard layout of the 10, the 9 is still a better built example. Now with the 10HD, even as small as the viewable screen now, it's still looks better on paper... who wouldnt want a 10?

I'm keeping my 9 for now, its too "modable". Hopefully a tiny core2duo is in the mix with a real graphics chip. I'm not looking for a do all netbook, just something with a bit more horsepower so I can sell the laptop and just have a netbook and desktop. Perhaps at the point I'll buy a next generation 10".

[efenili]

I don't recall a whole lot of sub-10" notebooks being made in the first place after some earlier models.

That being said, I think my Mini 9 is the absolute perfect size and everything I need a netbook to be That means Dual-Booting Win7 and OSX of course. hehe

[teeth_03]

didnt say anything about 12 inch netbooks there...

[holmes4]

The article supports my earlier theory that what "killed the Mini 9" was a market shift to larger screen sizes. Personally, I think that 12" is too large for a "netbook", and Microsoft's refusal to license Win 7 Starter Edition on sizes larger than 10.2" may cause the market to shrink on that end as well.

[teeth_03]

I agree,but if an article is gonna talk about the market segment and screen sizes,it should take them ALL in consideration. To me,screen size should be relational to performance. If a 9 inch has the same specs as a 10 inch, I would just go for the smaller 9 inch. However, if (for example),ION powered netbooks come in 10 inch as the smallest, I would take that into consideration for a bigger size netbook.

Having this mini 9 since September soon after it was put on the market, I have actually been looking at 13 inch laptops, something with some GPU power in them. However, I want to see how ION does in a netbook before I would buy another netbook/notebook. The Mini 9 is great for what it can do, but I am a video gamer at heart, I need a non-Intel GPU. Been down the road with a beefy 17 inch laptop tho,not going back down that way either. I even think 15 inches is too much.

[unreasonable]

IMO, the best display should have the width of mini 10 (with same 1024 pixels) and height corresponding to 4:3 aspect ratio (and in this case 768 pixels). Advantage of widescreen display on underpowered netbook is only in watching videos. Internet aint horizontally oriented and so is the majority of the documents god dammit! You cant play modern games on netbooks and old ones quite often dont support widescreen resolutions. I also dont understand whats the advantage of 1368*768 over 1280*800, again only movies?

said the happy owner of the mini 12

[unreasonable]

Also if the mini 10s display would be a bit taller it would allow a bigger touchpad

[teeth_03]

try using the edit button next time,eh?

[unreasonable]

*were a bit taller (I cannot edit my posts for some uknown reasons)