No. 1 in Netbooks? Not Asus but Acer

December 9, 2008 1:19 PM PST

Post by Matthew Elliott

Asus created the Netbook category a little over a year ago when it introduced its first Eee PC. Acer jumped in this past summer with the Aspire One and has overtaken Asus for the top spot in the Netbook market. According to research firm DisplaySearch, Acer sold 2.15 million Netbooks in Q3 for a 38.3 percent share of the Netbook market. Asus moved 1.7 million units for 30.3 percent market share. Not only did Asus have a head start in this horse race, but it also has a much larger stable of Netbooks. It seemingly releases a new Eee PC model every other week, while Acer has but a few versions and colors of its 8.9-inch Aspire One.

HP sits in a distant third with a 5.8 percent share of the market, followed by MSI (5.7 percent), and Dell (2.8 percent).

On the whole, the Netbook category grew 160 percent in Q3, which is good news, given the current state of the global economy, but not all that surprising when you consider that the category has gained momentum with many of the big names jumping into the fray.

(Credit: DisplaySearch)