Posted on 10/07/2009 6:01:19 AM PDT by ShadowAce
Ultra-low prices on portable computers are nothing new, and in fact have increasingly become the norm since the debut of netbooks — small and light ultraportables that are virtually defined by their low cost. However, there are some strong reasons to believe that Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 7 operating system, in addition to new types of Linux-based portables, could help drive profit margins for hardware manufacturers to surprising new bottoms. But is it good for the tech industry for laptops and netbooks alike to sell for fire-sale prices? And can hardware providers build healthy businesses around a new, premium-priced operating system?
“It’s getting harder and harder to sell anything over $800,” CNET over the weekend quoted IDC analyst Bob O’Donnell as saying about the portable computer market. The CNET article also notes that the price of an HP EliteBook 2530p business notebook in August 2008 was $1,500, while an upcoming ProBook 5310m notebook, less than inch thick and featuring a slick aluminum case, will be just $699. That new computer, and its rock-bottom price, will arrive with Windows 7 on the day that Microsoft’s new operating system ships: Oct. 22nd.
Windows 7 has a much smaller footprint than that of Windows Vista, and is much more adept at memory handling. It’s aimed squarely at the hot netbook market, where Microsoft has had problems with its profit margins, as evidenced in a 10-Q filing from last year in which the company pointed specifically to the market when explaining large revenue shortfalls:
“The decline in OEM revenue reflects an 11 percentage point decrease in the OEM premium mix to 64 percent, primarily driven by growth of licenses related to sales of netbook PCs, as well as changes in the geographic and product mixes.”
Microsoft is clearly aware that the trend toward very low-cost portable computers isn’t allowing for the kinds of revenues and high profit margins that it’s used to. As PC World notes, while not all the details of Microsoft’s Windows 7 pricing strategy are in place, it’s inevitable that the company will have to charge a premium for the operating system, which could in turn force hardware manufacturers to have to keep the prices of their portable computers especially low by way of compensation.
Meanwhile, Dell is shipping the very first netbook, a $299 Mini 10v, with version 2.1 of the Intel-backed Moblin Linux-based operating system. Other netbooks running Moblin will soon hit the market, and Jim Zemlin, executive director of The Linux Foundation, was quoted at the recent LinuxCon conference as saying that they will arrive at very low price points. Only Apple, it seems, is able to maintain a healthy business selling portable computers at premium prices. And Apple won’t even play in the netbook market.
Still, despite the arrival of Moblin netbooks, Windows 7 will be the pace-setting operating system on new netbooks and laptops heading into the holiday season. In fact, as InfoWorld reports, it’s already on one in 67 personal computers in advance of its official release, due to early availability for users with volume licenses, and it has gotten rave reviews. It’s also being aggressively marketed by Microsoft.
As buyers continue to show their unwillingness to pay premium prices for portable computers, manufacturers respond to an unforgiving portable computing market and shaved margins, and Microsoft seeks to carve out whatever margins it can get for its new operating system, daunting new economics loom. In the end, we may very well see consolidation within and even exits from the portable computing manufacturing market as a result.
Yea, Win7 on a development machine I use, and its stable like NT4 was but a 6 gig install , I think that is the epitome of bloatware. I am agnostic on OSes, I have a iMac the wife uses, a Linux box and 3 PCs and gulp my fav is the Mac, it just works.
Um..........no.
Thanks! Why didn’t they just say that......:0)
Thanks! It worked this time!
I run everything just fine on my linux machine now.
Went to Linux and it was too much of a pain in the ass to deal with the wife and kids, so I went back, and moved forward to Windows 7. So far no one has complained about 7 when using it, and that makes my life easier...
Depends. You may not legally use the same copy of Windows XP on two different machines.
In many cases, you can load it on a computer that replaces your old one, as long as you bought a retail version.
They no longer allow you to transfer an OEM version of XP to be loaded onto a new machine. They are bound to the motherboard. If a machine loaded with the OEM version of XP dies because of a faulty mainboard, it must be replaced with the same motherboard.
Same make & model motherboard, that is...
Win7 is a whole new ball game. Really.
I've found the hash system to be very tolerant, also. Until last week.
I turned on an old machine that had been idle for more than a year. (wanted to look for an mp3 file I knew was on there...) When it booted, it failed to recognize drive D, but no problem, it still came up.
Later, I decided to convert the smallish system drive to NTFS, so that I could use a particular search tool that won't index drives on FAT32. After the conversion, it gave me the "Too many hardware changes" message and told me Windows had to be reactivated within 3 days.
It was no problem. The voice at the other end is automated and the process was very quick. I've done plenty of other upgrades on various machines without having to go through this. Their process is really not that insidious...
I decided to load the Golden RC of 7 on the weakest (celeron) laptop, and it has been rock solid. The only issue I have has is trying to get my HP network small business all-in-one to load it's software under 7. I have a working printer driver, but can't get the scanner or fax software to install after the upgrade. I hope HP fixes this issue since I want to eventually take the other 3 PCs to 7. My only concern is the $500 it may cost me to upgrade. I am thinking of waiting to see if the price point falls shortly after release.
(Eddie Murphy laugh... )
While I have not abandoned my laptop or desktop, I am relying far more on my I-touch, running Safari, for routine e-mails and web surfing. I don't want to carry a laptop around just for stuff like this and road warriors likely would be far more content to carrying the small notebooks instead of large and expensive laptops. The market is simply changing as we integrate the Internet more into our daily lives.
Well I’m a little jealous that XP users can upgrade straight to 7, whereas I am going from Vista to 7. I have not had any issues and would stick with it if it weren’t for that fact that MS is basically going to call it a mulligan and put all of their efforts into 7. I think if that is going to be their attitude, maybe they should give VISTA users a bigger price break on the upgrade.
It does if the original copy was an OEM copy that came preinstalled on the old machine. Those aren’t supposed to be moved to other machines.
I think that means to dial the international access code “plus” the number they gave you.
Can you run MS Access as a full-featured app on Linux?
I have a self-designed Access database that runs my office.
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