Why Can’t Anyone Find the Linux Netbooks?

Why are sales of Windows netbooks so much higher than their Linux counterparts? While many assume a simple market preference, the answer may be more elusive. According to an article on bMighty, the problem is that there just aren’t enough Linux netbooks around.

The article describes the trek of Jay Lyman, a 451 Group analyst who blogged about the immense difficulty he found looking for an Acer Aspire One with a pre-loaded Linux OS. Apparently, all the Linux models were in many cases simply sold out.

“The message for Acer and other manufacturers: up your ratio of Linux netbooks. While North America seems to be the main market for these machines, about 30% of which run Linux by most accounts, among my dwindling options for obtaining the right Linux netbook were in Canada and the UK. However, the shipping costs added onto my minimal netbook expense of ~$350. While there were a number of online outlets that were sold out of the Linpus version, most of these same places had hundreds, sometimes thousands of XP netbooks in stock.”

A number of reader responses have questioned Lyman’s simple answer. Nobody knows what deals hardware OEMs are making with Microsoft, which may very well have an affect on the number of Linux machines they stock. If Microsoft is beginning to fear Linux is taking its sales, it will try to bump up the incentives it offers the OEMs to keep them away from Linux.

But are these secretive OEM-Microsoft deals really the cause? To tell the truth, everything is probably playing a role here.

While the situation may tick off Linux netbook buyers, it may not necessarily hurt the Linux netbook market. Just the fact that Microsoft is getting nervous about Linux shows its growing power, and as Lyman mentions, “the dearth of Linux netbooks available in the face of many XP netbooks available further confirms the idea that going forward, Linux will be increasingly prominent and important in this explosive new market.”

Via bMighty.