Netbooks, do people know what they’re buying?

According to a report from the NPD Group, most consumers aren’t aware of what they’re buying when they purchase a netbook. Now we have to disagree with them, as this report doesn’t make a lot sense when you actually start reading it.

NPD has talked with “over 500 netbook owners”  in the USA and based on this they’ve come up with a bunch of conclusions that doesn’t really make any sense. Of course NPD hasn’t published the whole report on its website, as they most likely want you to pay for it, but the parts they have posted made us laugh.

For starters, NPD is suggesting that people mix up netbooks with notebooks, as the names are so similar. They also claim that the “confusion” leads to dissatisfaction among netbook customers. “Only 58 percent of consumers who bought a netbook instead of a notebook said they were very satisfied with their purchase” – which leads to the question if these people even knew what they purchased in the first place.

According to the same report, the 18-24 supposedly claim that they expected better performance from their netbook. This age group is apparently a big target market for netbooks. Looking at our video stats on YouTube, most of our viewers are aged 35+ which makes you wonder how accurate it is to target these devices towards the 18-24 age group, as there’s obviously a much larger interest in the 35+ market space. On top of this, a survey on netbooknews.de of over 1,800 people, performance is only the fifth most important factor as to why people buy netbooks.

Supposedly only 40% of netbook owners ever take their netbook out of their home, but then we have to wonder how NPD can suggest that some netbook buyers decided to get a netbook rather than a Smartphone. As a mobile computing device with a “full” internet experience, it really is hard to beat a netbook when you take into consideration the long battery life and relatively low weight. A Smartphone might offer internet access, but it’s fairly limited compared to a netbook.

The funniest part of the press release is a quote by the Vice President of industry analysis at NPD, Stephen Baker, who goes on to say “There is a serious risk of cannibalization in the notebook market that could cause a real threat to netbooks’ success.” We’re not quite sure what he means by that, especially if you consider Asus’ own research that suggests that 87% of their Eee PC customers already own a desktop or a notebook.

It goes on “Retailers and manufacturers can’t put too much emphasis on PC-like capabilities and general features that could convince consumers that a netbook is a replacement for a notebook. Instead, they should be marketing mobility, portability, and the need for a companion PC to ensure consumers know what they are buying and are more satisfied with their purchases.”

Well, we can’t argue about the fact that consumers need to be more educated when it comes to making buying decision, but this doesn’t apply solely to netbooks, but to a wide range of other items that most people purchase and later find out that they don’t meet their requirements. However, we don’t believe people need or want a “companion PC”, but instead when they’re looking at getting a netbook, they want something with all day battery life and low weight that allows them to access the internet everywhere they go.

You can find the press release over at Engadget and NPD’s survey here (although you have to pay to get access to the whole thing)