Post-CES postmodernists may insinuate that the smartbook category is sooo 2009, but ABI Research thinks the concept is viable enough to dedicate a research report to the smartbook category, released Feb. 21. In the usual good news/bad news scenario, ABI predicts that worldwide shipments of smartbooks will reacl 163 million annually by 2015. Still, analyst Jeff Orr is not so sure the sub-category of “smartbook” makes sense in the broader field of mobile Internet devices.
Orr called for volume unit pricing of smartbooks at $200 or less, and for a focus on unique form factors, market points we would agree with wholeheartedly. But Orr also pointed out the need for a differentiation from x86-based handhelds, while insisting that the parsing of netbooks and smartbooks might not make sense from a branding perspective.
“The idea of a ‘smartbook’ doesn’t resonate with anybody thinking of buying such a device,” he said. “Vendors should avoid creating a separate market category with a new name, instead accepting that they are competing in an established product category.”
Fair enough, but then how to differentiate the Atom/Windows class from the ARM/Google and other product categories? But as we pointed out in our early days as a blog, does a microprocessor or an operating system define a specific handheld market?
We’re happy to see ABI offer such bright prospects, but we think the conclusions on product branding need some more pondering. Then again, one would expect a site called Smartbook Blog to make that argument!
Loring
