When Dell ran through its stock of the netbooks several months ago, it declined to manufacture more units, according to a Dell spokesman.
Instead the company is focusing its efforts in the mobile computing space on selling more powerful, yet still light, laptops, including an upcoming line of ultrabooks.
“We’re committed to the highly portable space and have focused on delivering Thin + Powerful solutions, for which we’ve seen strong success, particularly in our XPS line,” a company statement read, referencing the company’s newly introduced XPS 15z and XPS 14z laptops.
Although Dell discontinued the line several months ago, it didn’t come to public attention until mobile-technology news site Liliputing first noticed that Dell ceased selling the netbooks earlier this week.
After an initial surge of consumer interest, the netbook market has cooled since tablets became objects of desire.
In many ways, netbooks were an artifact of the time, when the emergence of the global recession encouraged consumers to make more economical purchases, noted IDC PC analyst David Daoud. They soon soured on the small form factor, and Apple’s introduction of the iPad further eroded consumer interest. “Netbooks are no longer of substantial interest to consumers,” IDC stated in its most recent annual forecast of PC sales, published in September.
Moreover, unlike Acer and Asus, Dell was never a huge player in the netbook space, Daoud said. “Dell, being strong in the enterprise market, did not see the netbook as a must-have product,” Daoud said.
Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab’s e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.