Techaisle US SMB Ultrabook and Netbook Comparison

US SMBs HAVE LOWER AWARENESS OF ULTRABOOKS THAN THEY HAD FOR NETBOOKS BUT HIGHER PURCHASE INTENT

San Jose, CA, January 26, 2012: Techaisle's two separate surveys conducted with US SMBs at different times show the contrast between Netbook and Ultrabook awareness and intent to purchase. One survey was conducted with SMBs when Netbooks were introduced and the other was conducted recently at the introduction of Ultrabooks.

SMBs had a higher awareness of Netbooks as compared to Ultrabooks at their respective introductions. However, intent to purchase Netbooks was lower than Ultrabooks. 82 percent of SMBs were aware of Netbooks but the intent to purchase was 15 percent. In contrast, only 36 percent of SMBs are currently aware of Ultrabooks but intent to purchase is three times as Netbooks at 45 percent.

Says Tavishi Agrawal, Market Analyst, Techaisle, "Netbooks were introduced at a time when the country economy was going through a recession and price was a main concern and Netbooks had created enough excitement." The intended purpose of Netbook usage was to access corporate email followed by web browsing and other corporate applications. Long battery life and lightweight features of both Netbooks and Ultrabooks were extremely attractive to SMBs and they perceived Netbooks to be an ideal replacement for Notebooks just like what they believe in for Ultrabooks. However, Netbooks were not able to deliver their true promise for the SMBs.

The constantly improving capabilities of smartphones and introduction of Tablets forced the Netbook category to get squeezed, at the same time, thinner and more powerful notebooks were introduced at price points that closely matched Netbooks. Ultrabooks are actually being seen as true replacements for Notebooks, having the same processing capabilities as Notebooks but with additional features that SMBs have been asking for a long time.

With the introduction of Ultrabooks, there seems to be a clear message for the SMBs that Ultrabooks are like notebooks but have better features such as battery life, weight, and instant on capabilities. Ultrabooks are designed to provide the same level of processing power as Notebooks. As per the survey, battery life is huge and the highest rated feature of Ultrabooks.
Typically, as the number of mobile employees continues to increase within SMBs, battery life and weight become extremely important. It is a key selling point for SMBs. Ultrabooks with its thin and slender design along with same capabilities as a notebook, has the potential to become a sought after form factor.

Above data is available for purchase in individual country reports.

For further inquiries and purchase of the Ultrabook study, please contact tavishi@techaisle.com

About Techaisle
Techaisle is a global SMB ICT Market Research and Industry Analyst organization organization tracking the Future of SMBs and Channels. Techaisle conducts surveys with SMBs and channels to understand market trends, opportunities, buying behavior, purchase intent, and IT priorities. Besides delivering forward looking analysis on emerging technologies such as SMB cloud computing, managed services, and mobility, its channel research coverage provides in-depth understanding of resellers and distribution channels globally. Techaisle offers its clients six major services: SMB Syndicated Research, Custom Consulting, Worldwide IT Market Opportunity Sizing, Channels Research, Reseller Universe Sizing and Competitive Intelligence. For more information on Techaisle or its global products/services, please visit www.techaisle.com

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