Notebook sales experience a merry Christmas

A new analysis of notebook sales in the final quarter of 2010 has revealed that the device enjoyed healthy figures in the run up to Christmas – despite fears of a slump in the market.

The study by industry researchers, GfK showed that sales of notebooks in December 2010 had actually increased by 5% on the same period of 2009.

Furthermore, the value of notebooks sold in that month experienced a growth of 12.1% year-on-year; another indicator of the health of a market previously though to be ailing.

GfK’s IT account manager, Christopher Kennedy-Sloane attributed the growth to the loyalty of the British consumer.

“This proves that despite the distractions of new products such as tablets and the difficulties brought on by the snow, the UK consumer remains committed to the notebook as their chosen main computing device.” He said.

Kennedy-Sloane also cited a lack of direct competition between the notebook and the rising tablet market as a reason for the notebooks continuing success. The tablet is a device which seems intent on blowing its competitors – read: the netbook – out of the water.

When asked for his interpretation of the huge rise in the value of notebooks sold, he talked of an increasingly knowledgeable body of consumers within the UK who, more than ever, are driven by what specifications suit their needs, and then buy accordingly.

“Only 6.6% of notebooks sold in the UK in 2010 had 1GB of RAM as a standard specification, compared to 16.1% in 2009. This shift has mostly been to 4GB rather than 2GB or 3GB, and while only 23% of notebooks in 2009 were sold with 4GB of RAM, in 2010 33% of all notebooks sold had 4GB of RAM”.

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