Desktop Computers Are Ceding Ground To Laptops: Frost & Sullivan

Laptops outstripped desktops for the first time in terms of revenue due to a higher average sale price (ASP). Frost & Sullivan believes another could follow this first in 2009, when laptop unit sales will exceed that of desktops, globally.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, World Laptop and Mobile Computing Markets - Realities of Limited Broadband Wireless Adoption, finds that the market earned revenues of $137.27 billion in 2008 and estimates this to reach $211.38 billion in 2014.

Laptops, with their more advanced computing solutions, will continue to steal a march over desktop computers until 2014. The ruggedised mobile computer market is also likely to find the going good due to significant demand from specialised enterprise vertical markets.

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Despite this optimism in the market, laptop or notebook computer vendors must guard against the reduction in ASP. The laptop market, like many electronics or technology markets, continues to see severe erosion in price points. The ASP for laptops or notebook computers has been dropping by high single-digit percentage points every year.

“In 2005, the average sale price for a laptop was $1,289.60 and in 2008 it had dropped to $1,007.20 - a 21.9 percent decline in price in three years,” explains Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Daniel Longfield. “Laptop manufacturers must focus on economies of scale, customer feedback/ requirements, and tactical cost management to maintain profit margins in a market with intense global competition and eroding price stability.”

However, these reduced prices have made laptops more affordable and many households, students, and businesses are turning to laptops.

The higher uptake of laptops has been a blessing for wireless broadband vendors, since enterprise laptop users have acknowledged their solutions as productivity boosters. Nevertheless, adoption of wireless broadband access through laptops or notebooks is restrained by high service costs, traditional wireline Internet service, and wireless fidelity (WiFi) hotspots.

Wireless broadband vendors can offset these issues by highlighting external broadband wireless solutions’ ability to help enterprises maintain several subscriptions for a larger number of employees, allowing wireless access to be targeted on a situational basis.

“Meanwhile, Gobi modules by Qualcomm enable laptops to access both major common wireless networks as well as global systems for mobile communications (GSM) and code division multiple access (CDMA), enabling consumers to purchase broadband wireless service-ready laptops,” notes Longfield. “End-users will also be able to switch carriers more easily; the threat of churn will push carrier pricing down and drive adoption.”