BestBuy: Netbooks Are Not Dead

When a company expects to sell netbooks, it’s often not to smart to claim them dead. Netbooks have been wounded by tablets. They may or may not go away. But to proclaim them dead at this point is not smart. Apparently, BestBuy does not consider netbooks to be on the death row.

While they were fueled in part by a comment in the Wall Street Journal that was attributed to me, they are not an accurate depiction of what we’re currently seeing. As we said during our recent earnings call, we believe computers will remain a very popular gift this holiday because of the very distinct and desirable benefits they offer consumers,

said Brian Dunn of BestBuy. To be fair, Mr. Dunn’s comments may have been taken out of context. But there is a lot of truth to what he said to the Wall Street Journal. People are spending less money on things they own and would rather try tablets and shiny devices that they do not own.

Dual-core netbooks are on their way. We should know by the end of 2011 whether netbooks can continue to have a bright future. One thing is for certain: netbook makers need to innovate to stay relevant in 2011 and beyond.