Netbook sales to reach 36 million in 2010

Netbook sales will reach 36 million globally during 2010, according to new figures from research firm Techaisle.

The company says the business netbook penetration rate will be at 5.3%, while consumer netbook penetration will be at 1.8%. It said in a statement there will be a “short and transient shift of netbook purchases among consumers from some mature markets into a few newly emerging markets”.

However, Techaisle chief executive Anurag Agrawal said in a statement market expansion will be limited by the “value proposition differential… there is no compelling reason for a consumer or a business to buy a netbook as compared to a notebook”.

While netbooks were popular in the past couple of years due to being a relatively new and exciting product, they are struggling to keep up with more powerful notebooks.

“The important thing was consumers were not buying them in numbers – because they decided if they spent another $200 they’d get a better notebook… we were getting feedback from the market that it’s not the beginning of an era, but the start of a short trend”.