Netbook sales dying on the vine

Mini form factor now accounts for just 12 per cent of mobile shipments through distribution in western Europe, according to Context

Distribution sell-through data for January and February confirms the pace at which the netbook market is shrivelling up and dying.

With consumers gravitating swiftly towards tablets and ultra-thin devices, there is now little room for the mini form factor that took the market by storm at the end of the last decade, Context figures indicate.

According to the analyst, netbooks accounted for just 11.7 per cent of all mobile devices shipped through western European distributors in the first two months of 2012. This compares to 21.5 per cent a year earlier.

In the UK, netbook sales through distribution dropped by a more modest 33.6 per cent, although that contrasts with a 192 per cent boom in tablet sales in this country.

Netbooks began to decline in mid-2010 and since then a number of vendors including Dell have fled for the hills.

Context chief executive Jeremy Davies said: "As we have been seeing for some time now, netbooks are on the way out in western Europe, as leading vendors withdraw from the market to focus on tablets and ultraportables.

"The move is partly driven by an increasing demand in these devices as well as declining margins on netbooks."