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PC sales are on the way up, according to a recent IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker report last Thursday.

After three consecutive quarters of decline, worldwide shipments rose 2-3% compared to the same period last year. Laptops soared an impressive 33.5% increase, while desktops continued to fall.

As a result of these developments, the overall PC market is expected to rise 1.9% in 2009, and a tremendous 10.3% in 2010. Netbooks are thought to be having a big hand in the PC industry’s turnaround.

IDC’s Loren Loverde mentioned what he thought explained the turnaround:

“Once again, the PC market shows its resiliency. The speed of market stabilization and growth in key segments reflect the essential role of personal computing today. Technology evolution and falling prices remain a compelling combination. As commercial spending recovers in 2010, we expect to see robust growth over the next several years.”

Via CNet.

The specs of the 12.1-inch ASUS Eee PC 1201N netbook have been out for a while now, and they’re truly something to look forward to – 2 GB of RAM and 250 GB of storage on a machine selling for a mere $500. But while the netbook was anticipated to go on sale by December, that’s only a half truth – you can pre-order the Eee PC 1201N right now, but you’ll have to wait until January 15 for it to ship.

If you can stand the wait, get to it – pre-order your own ASUS Eee PC 1201N netbook here.

Via SlashGear.

Target is announcing a new Sunday-to-Wednesday run of pre-Black Friday deals that we thought you’d like to hear about. The price cuts aren’t godly, but definitely worth a look if you’re on the market and don’t want to deal with Black Friday crowds.

Most of the good ones are on TVs. You can get a 32-inch LCD TV for $398, 50-inch plasma for $698 or a 42-inch 1080p LCD TV for $597.

Other deals include a $20 gift card with the purchase of a Wii, dual-screen portable DVD player for $119, and a 10.1-inch Acer Aspire One netbook for a mere $199.

You should be seeing these deals in your Sunday paper, or alternatively at Target.com in the near future.

Via CrunchGear.

Global CPU shipments have reached a record high of a 23% increase in Q3 of 2009, and this is largely a result of an increase in demand for netbooks.

While unit sales increased 23%, revenues only increased 14%, due to the low unit price of netbooks. According to Shane Rau, the director of semiconductor and personal computing research at IDC, “since PC processor shipments overall just slightly exceeded shipments in Q3 of 2008 – which was itself a record quarter at the time – we know the processor market is recovering.”

While this currently seems to be a good situation for netbook and chip manufacturers, we still have to be on the lookout. Rau pointed out that a lot of Intel Atom processors are being sold into markets like China, which offer government incentives. “The Chinese market can be very opaque – there are lots of places where inventories can hide. We have to be on the lookout for when China decides it can’t consume more processors. Meanwhile, the U.S. market is still hamstrung by housing foreclosures and rising job losses.”

Via PCMag.

Image via Crunchgear.

Netbooks have been selling fast, if you believe most  recent projections, and today ABI supported those projections with some numbers of its own.

The netbook industry should top 35 million units by the end of the year. While ABI isn’t saying much about market share it did note that Acer, ASUS, and Samsung made 74% of netbooks last year. Of course, an upset is always possible.

Netbook sales have been flying high, despite losses in the PC sector. Some blame cannibalization for drops in profit margins, though others are simply grateful that people are still buying electronics.

Via Electronista.

Recent netbook sales have resulted in an increased shipment of Intel’s and Advanced Micro Devices’ (AMD’s) graphics chips. According to market research firm Jon Peddie Research, Q3 shipments of graphics chips increased 21.2% from Q2 of 2009. Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research is optimistic for the future, as a reported 119.45 million units of graphics chips were shipped in Q3, which is an increase of over 8 million units more than Q3 of 2008.

It’s possible that Q4 shipments for 2009 may not be as strong as Q3 though, as Peddie mentions that “The channel is full…That suggests that while Q4 is typically a good quarter for PCs, the quarter-to-quarter growth in Q4 may not be as robust as Q3. Graphics are a great leading indicator. The graphics go in before the PC is built or shipped.”

Via CNet.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini acknowledges the growth of the netbook segment of the overall notebook market but says that, “while Atom and Netbooks are important growth drivers for us, our traditional notebook business remains one of the primary drivers of revenue growth and we expect that to continue in the future.” Otellini believes that both netbook and notebook sales will both continue to rise.

Otellini is also optimistic about sales of ultrathin laptops, relatively inexpensive alternatives that cost between $500 and $900 each and fall in the notebook category between netbooks and laptops. Various dual-core ultrathin laptops have already been released and much more will be released in time for the holiday season.

Via CNet.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is quelling rumors that the release of Windows 7 will significantly increase PC sales. Though he doesn’t seem to doubt the excellence of the new OS, Ballmer says “There will be a surge of PCs but it will probably not be huge.”

Why? It’s hard to say for sure, because Ballmer isn’t telling. However, one likely explanation is that while Microsoft licenses its OSes to PC makers, it’s not tied to production decisions.

That isn’t to say that Windows 7 won’t make a tidy profit – a new OS release has been wanting for a long time. Additionally, a whole host of netbook computers are set for release around October 22. Most new PCs on the market are likely to run Windows 7 in the near future, and if that eventually includes netbooks, Windows 7 could be tremendously successful.

Via BloggingStocks.

Credit: Trident Security

As prices drop in the PC market due to competition by netbooks, the demand for netbooks has been a tremendous boon for the rest of the tech sector. Chip stocks seem to have felt the greatest effect so far.

Gartner recently reported that the worst of the recession may have passed for PC makers. With netbook projections initially set at 21 million, Gartner raised the number to 25 million for 2009.

Intel, ARM, and Nvidia stocks have already begun to rise along with the concurrent rise of netbooks’ popularity. Semiconductor sales, for example, rose 5% in August 2009, according to the SIA.

iSupply analyst Len Jelinek has corroborated Gartner’s findings in an email to TheStreet:

“Intel with its Atom processor is definitely increasing sales and is poised to continue growth as they drive technology and performance with their next generation technology.”

Here’s a handy tip for all you netbook lovers – check out Amazon’s netbook section on their site. It’s a fantastically simple way to browse netbooks, check out ratings, and choose a model without having to open up a million tabs.

Amazon’s attention to netbooks is no coincidence. Netbook sales were great for Amazon last holiday season, and some netbooks like the Samsung N120 have gotten bestseller status in under a week.

According to market research firm Gartner, PC shipments for 2009 should be roughly 285 million units – two percent lower than last year’s 291 million units. This estimate is an improvement over the mid-year forecast though, which was an overall decrease of 6% for 2009.

According to Gartner’s research director, George Shiffler, the improvement in the forecast stems from mostly notebook and netbook sales in China and the United States. “Mobile PC shipments have regained substantial momentum, especially in emerging markets, and the decline in desk-based PC shipments is slowing down. We think shipments are likely to be growing again in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the fourth quarter of 2008.”

And now that the economy is slowly starting to pick up again, who knows what might happen? We’ll keep you posted.

Via CNet.

Intel first released the Atom chipset back in March of 2008 in an attempt to break into an industry that the famous chip manufacturer had little presence in. As a consequence, Intel has also implicitly spurred the rise of a new category of portable laptops, or netbooks, that are relatively low-cost and energy efficient and have been widely used for basic everyday tasks.

Since then, netbook sales have grown significantly and market research companies have forecasted greater growth within the overall industry. Market research firm IDC has forecasted the sale of roughly 26.4 million units globally for the year 2009 and says that telecoms that subsidizes these devices have contributed to a large portion of overall sales.

Via EnterpriseDB.

Taiwanese stock market projections by some analysts are expecting good things for Taiwanese netbook manufacturers, according to Bloomberg.

Portfolio manager in Taipei of First Financial Investment Trust Co. Jacky Cheng explained quite simply why netbook stocks are likely to rise:

“In a bad economy, everyone is switching to the cheaper netbooks.“

He didn’t say just which firms are expected to boom this quarter but everyone’s eyes are on Acer, which recently took the number one position in netbook sales.

Taiwanese markets took a hit after the July 28 arrival of Typhoon Morakot, Taiwan’s deadliest storm in half a century. Nevertheless, the Taiex index has seen unbelievable gains of 49% this year.

According to DisplaySearch, 2Q 2009 was lucrative for netbook industry giants, with 38 million netbook sales contributing to 22.2% of the PC market.

Demand grew 40% over the first quarter, compared to 22% growth over the same period by notebooks.

Growth wasn’t identical among all regions, however, with Latin America and China seeing the most gains. Many first-time buyers in those regions are opting for cheaper netbooks in the current tough economy.

Credit is also due to providers of mobile broadband, whose netbook subsidies and 3G programs have been attractive to budgeting parents and students.

Via CNet.

Competition is feverish in the netbook arena, with budget buyers and college kids opting for the cheaper PCs more than ever before. ASUS, whose woes we wrote about just days ago, seems to have taken the hit harder than initially imagined.

Once occupying the top spot for netbook sales, ASUS now holds second place. Acer has taken the lead, MSI is in third, HP in 4th and Lenovo in 5th place. Strong growth from MSI made Dell drop down to sixth. Here’s market researcher Eileen He from Gartner’s explanation:

“Acer is ranked number one because of their marketing campaign and their channel strategies… The result is similar across Asia-Pacific. After advertising and product design changes, Acer has bounced to number one.”

In total PC sales, ASUS is being beaten as well, with HP in first and Dell, Acer, Toshiba and Apple filling up the remaining top positions.

Netbooks as a whole, however, showed a 398.4% year on year leap by Q2 2009.

Via ARNNet.

As the school year gets into gear, many first year college students will be buying their first machine. The economy’s been rough, which has been a boon for netbooks, but Apple has been persistent in its advertising and has put out a variety of wonderful products to tease those of us without the disposable income to try them out. But how do the numbers really stand when it comes to computer purchases for college-bound kids?

A study by Retrevo says that full-sized Windows notebooks come in first – an unsurprising finding. However, 34 percent of kids will buy netbooks this year, leaving Apple in third place with a mere 17 percent of sales. Apple’s goal isn’t to have the most sales volume, but the numbers must be something of a bummer.

Retrevo CEO Vipin Jain explained the results of the study as follows:

“While Apple has done well historically in the education market, 2009 marks the dawn of the netbook… Students told us they wanted longer battery life, smaller size, and a lighter laptop. 58% of them plan on spending less than $750.00. Only 18% have a budget over $1,000.00. Netbooks are affordable; some costing only $170.00. In contrast, Apple laptops start at $949.00. At a time when many people are experiencing economic hardship, having a new Apple laptop isn’t a necessity.”

Be sure to read the study here if you’re curious for more.

Though a number of netbook sales projections have been missed this year, it doesn’t look like New Zealand took the hit very hard. There were about 25,000 netbooks shipped in New Zealand in 2008, but sales are expected to explode to 45,000 this year.

Industry voices are crediting the growth to the same factors that made netbooks rock in the rest of the world – they’re budget machines for tight times, and a majority of users are seeing that they don’t need to pay extra for the unused capability of laptops.

Netbooks range from $600 to $1200 in New Zealand, with the most sales occurring between $800 and $900. 85% of those sales are to the consumer market, but demand is starting to creep into the commercial sector despite competition with smartphones and ultramobiles.

Via NationalBusinessReview.

One in ten Australian computer sales is a netbook, a fact that’s drawing a lot of attention from manufacturers looking to expand their markets. The growth is being attributed to budgeting parents seeking to arm their kids with homework-ready computers for a low cost.

Like Schepen of Dick Smith testified to the magnitude of sales:

“We sold over 4500 laptops in a week during back-to-school sales in Dick Smith stores across the country…  Netbooks appear to be driving this growth with customers looking to switch to the smaller formats which offer the basic functionality needed for students at an affordable price.”

Even Intel is noting the boosts, whose market share in Australia was 10% six months ago compared to 21% in the consumer laptop market today. Kate Burlegh of the company thinks this legitimizes netbooks.

“The volume of netbooks sold in Australia doubled between Q3 and Q4 of 2008 and sits well above 10 per cent of total desktops and notebooks sold which, as far as Intel is concerned, moves the netbook very solidly into being a legitimate product category in its own right.”

I’d have to agree. Victoria notably bought $9 million in netbooks for kids in the region, and other netbook programs are lifting off in other parts of the country as well.

Via WAToday.

Asus first introduced the world to the netbook two years ago at Computex, and the trend has indeed caught on. As evidenced, many new netbook models have sprouted from various computer manufacturing companies since then.

Asus has a status for being the inventor of the netbook and aims to be in third-place among global laptop manufacturers by the year 2011, potentially selling more laptops than Dell and Lenovo. Currently, Asus is ranked fifth among laptop manufacturers.

Netbooks, being a cheap alternative to laptops, have recently been very popular with consumers. For last year, Gartner, a market research firm, forecast sales of 5.3 million units, but actual sales figures hit 14 million units.

Netbooks may soon be in competition with similar technological products though, as innovation and evolution gives way to more efficient and more powerful computing technology. Slimmer laptops with longer battery lives provide one channel of competition for the current lineup of netbooks.

Via BBCNews.